


Honor and Tradition (were all she had)

by rebelrsr



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Betrothal, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, F/F, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kalex, Minor Character Death, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:00:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23653495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelrsr/pseuds/rebelrsr
Summary: After hearing bad news from Alex, Kara runs away from the Danvers shortly after arriving on Earth. When she and Alex meet again years later, will they be able to mend their relationship? Or will the rift only grow because of Kara's decision to become Supergirl?
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kara Danvers, Kara Danvers & Bruce Wayne, Kara Danvers & Diana (Wonder Woman)
Comments: 369
Kudos: 455





	1. Chapter 1

Alex was beautiful. Uncaring of the water soaking her clothes and hair, Kara stared through the window of Flight 237. Rao, it had been so long since she’d seen her.

Unfortunately, a glimpse was all Kara could afford. Rotors beat the night air, and a bright, white beam of light cut the darkness. The news ‘copters were out in force. Kara had to leave. She lifted her arm from the wing of the plane, extending it toward Alex for a heartbeat.

Alex didn’t return the gesture. In fact, she turned away.

Nothing had changed then. Kara wearily pushed away from the plane and took off. She kept her altitude high enough to avoid detection from any other planes in the area. It took only moments before she landed on the balcony outside her apartment.

Her phone vibrated as she stepped through the French doors and into her living room. Once. Twice. It rattled non-stop for over a minute.

Kara waited until it stopped before unlocking the phone’s screen. Then she laughed. Of course. There was one pithy text from Diana: _I taught you better. We must practice flying again soon._

It was an old argument between them. More of a running joke now. She responded quickly. _With or without a plane on my shoulder?_

The other texts were equally amusing; although, not for the same reason. Each of the remaining texts were from Cat Grant. The first, a query on whether Kara had seen the rescue on the news. The final, a sharp demand for her to be at the CatCo offices early the next morning for a staff meeting. Kara acknowledged the request before tossing the phone onto the couch.

She needed a shower. The rescue hadn’t been planned. Far from it. While Kara did use her powers outside the protective shield surrounding Themyscira, helping planes safely land wasn’t in her workout regimen.

And food. Kara’s stomach roared. Detouring long enough to retrieve her phone, Kara used her favorite online app to order a dozen pizzas. If she used superspeed to clean up, she’d be back and relaxed on the couch by the time they showed up.

Unfortunately, Kara had underestimated the delivery time. She’d barely dragged on her favorite Stanhope College sweats and hoodie before the doorbell buzzed. More than ready to devour her order and think about ice cream for dessert, Kara whipped open the door.

Her stomach would have to wait.

“Kara.” Even tinged with exhaustion, Alex’s husky voice brushed along Kara’s nerves like an electrical current.

“How did you find me?” Why had Alex come looking after all this time? She hadn’t appeared to have forgiven Kara when she’d spied Kara sprawled across the wing of the plane earlier. And Alex – the whole Danvers family – had maintained a chilly radio silence since Kara had run away the year after Kal had dumped her on the Danvers’ front porch.

Alex’s heart rate spike. Kara noticed the lines around her eyes tighten. “Can I come in?”

One evasion deserved another. Kara silently stepped back, giving Alex just enough space to slip into the apartment.

“Nice place.” Moving across the room, Alex peered at the artwork on the walls. Paintings Kara had done of Argo and Themyscira. She seemed ill at ease, hands rubbing restlessly on her pant legs and avoiding Kara’s gaze.

Kara was in no mood to help Alex gather her courage. She merely leaned against the back of the couch and waited.

She didn’t wait long. “What the hell were you thinking today?” The words exploded into the air between them. “What if someone recognized you?”

An old refrain. One she’d heard countless times as a Danvers daughter. Kara shrugged.

“Kara!” Alex threw her arms out, her frustration clear.

“I’m glad you’re OK, Alex.” She wasn’t indulging Alex in her fears. Kara Zorel was an Amazon warrior and the last daughter of a dead world. “How have you been? How are Eliza and Jeremiah?”

The questions stopped Alex’s tirade. Not her scowl. That remained as she glowered at Kara.

Words dripping with bitterness, Kara continued. “I would have let you know I was in the area…but you never answered any of my cards or letters.” One on each of Alex’s birthdays.

“They’re fine.” Alex stuffed her hands into her coat pockets. “I don’t see them much. Not since I joined the FBI.” Her lips twisted. “Mom wasn’t thrilled I left academia.”

The FBI. Kara knew better. Alex didn’t hunt human criminals. She hunted aliens. The knowledge burned in her chest, threatening to engulf her heart. “An agent.” She desperately wanted to lash out. To challenge Alex. Instead, Kara walked into her kitchen and poured a glass of milk. “Can I get you anything?” Along with weapons training, Kara’s Amazonian mentors had drilled her in etiquette.

“No. I…” Footsteps followed Kara; although, Alex remained outside the small kitchen area. “Kara, what’s going on? What happened to you? Where did you go?” The questions rang through the apartment.

It was too much. The glass shattered in her grip. Milk soaked her dry clothing and dripped onto the floor.

Dripped and dripped.

Like Kara’s tears on her last night in Midvale.

_Lightning and thunder crashed. Kara huddled against the wall, tears squeezing out from tightly shut lids. Each sizzling crack and roll. So loud. So violent._

_“Hey.” Alex slid onto the bed next to Kara. She didn’t say anything else. She simply slung an arm around Kara and pulled her onto her lap. Tucking Kara’s head under her chin, Alex rocked them._

_It didn’t stop the noise, but Kara slowly relaxed into Alex’s warmth. “Thank you.” Alex was a wonderful protector. She smiled. “I wish you could have met Mother and Father. And Aunt Astra. She would have loved you.”_

_“The General?” Kara had told Alex all about her family. “I’m not in her league. Or your parents.”_

_“You are the perfect addition to the House of El.” Kara couldn’t believe Kal, who was far more human than Kryptonian after his time on Earth, had found such a wonderful bond mate for her. “When we bond, you’ll even be an El. Alex Zor-El.”_

_She didn’t register the way Alex stiffened beneath her. Kara only knew there was a problem when Alex shoved her off her lap and stood. “Kara, I’m your sister.” Her eyes had been so sympathetic as she she’d denied everything that had grown between them. “We can’t ever be together that way.”_

“Kara?” Was Alex’s voice the slighted bit concerned? Surely not.

Turning away, Kara grabbed a kitchen towel and gathered up the shards of glass and wiped up the puddle of milk. She focused on moving with plodding human speed as she threw away the towel and glass. Washed away the milk clinging to her fingers.

It was easier to regain her emotional control when she wasn’t looking at Alex. “How long have you been in National City?” Kara asked, cursing her complete inability to confront Alex. To ask all the things she truly wanted to know.

A knock interrupted their painful and stunted conversation. This time, she looked through the door. “I ordered dinner,” she announced as she strode to the door. “You’re welcome to stay.”

There was no immediate answer as Kara retrieved the armful of boxes from the gangly teen at the door. “Alex?”

“Yeah.” The word sounded torn from Alex’s throat. “I’d…I’d like that.” At least se didn’t appear angry any longer. Kara was too tired for that.

The rescue. Alex’s whirlwind return to her life (followed, Kara was sure, by her swift departure). It all weighed her down until Kara felt as if she were swimming through the thick, sticky waters of Rao’s Sacred Fountain in Kandor. “Make yourself comfortable. I know you said you didn’t want anything earlier, but…”

Back in the kitchen, Kara heard Alex flop onto the couch. “Scotch, if you have it.”

“No alcohol, I’m afraid. It doesn’t do anything for me.” And tasted like battery acid. Humans had the weirdest taste in drink. “I’ve got soda, water, and juice. There might be some wine as well.” Diana enjoyed it whenever she visited.

“Soda’s fine.” The television clicked on.

A local news channel reporting on Kara’s daring rescue. “Still no word on exactly who the mystery woman…”

Kara plated a couple of slices of pepperoni pizza for Alex. A favorite, Kara remembered. She even tore open a packet of crushed red pepper included in the box and sprinkled it on the same was a younger Alex had enjoyed.

Her own plate resembled a jigsaw puzzle of pizza. The layers stacked precariously high.

Plates, drinks, napkins, and silverware filled a heavy silver tray. “Here you go.” Kara placed the tray on the coffee table. “Anything good on? If not, I’ve got Hulu and Netflix.” The words were different, yet the situation was familiar.

_“You…uh, want to watch a movie?” Alex held out a plate covered in sandwiches and chips. “I made enough for both of us.” Her shy smile charmed Kara completely – and was the first time Alex seemed willing to spend time with her. “Come on. Curl up with me. I’ll even let you pick.”_

Lost in the memory and the alluring fantasy of Alex in her home, Kara took the cushion next to Alex. She curled her feet under her and leaned into Alex’s shoulder. “There’s more pizza, if you want it. And I’ve got…”

“No. This is fine.” Alex leaned forward and grabbed the smaller of the two plates. When she straightened, she’d turned to put her back against the armrest – and plenty of space between them.

Kara’s plate remained on the coffee table. She stared desperately at the television where the inevitable rerun of Friends now played.

“When did you move to National City?” Alex played with her pizza, taking only single, tiny bite.

“Are we playing Twenty Questions?” Kara didn’t believe for a minute that Alex hadn’t known Kara had moved to the city. Or that she and the DEO hadn’t been tracking Kara since she’d left the shielded safety of Themyscira. Acid burned her stomach.

This wasn’t what she’d imagined when she’d grabbed Alex’s plane out of the air.

Setting aside her own plate, Alex shrugged. “If you want.” She pulled her knees up to her chest. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” Her mischievous smile wormed its way through Kara’s reluctance.

Mirroring Alex’s position, Kara pulled the soft flannel blanket from the back of the couch and spread it across their legs. “I’ve been here almost a year.” Until this moment, curled next to Alex and sharing (in theory) information, Kara hadn’t realized she’d been in National City so long.

“What about you? Have you been in National City long?” Alex hadn’t answered the first time Kara asked, and Kara was thirsty for information. Even if she already knew the answers. She’d tried to stay away; to hide from any news of Alex and the Danvers family.

For over nine years, Kara had huddled amid the Amazons. Away from technology while she learned to harness her powers. Her only contact with the outside world the cards and letters she sent (and later received back unopened).

Her first week in National City, Kara hadn’t been able to resist the lure of the Internet. Search after search. Some legal. Most…less so, thanks to her advanced understanding of things humans only dabbled in.

“Alex?”

None of Alex’s thoughts or emotions leaked into her expression. “Since I left medical school. Four…I guess maybe five years now.” She barely paused. “Where did you go, when you left Midvale?”

Kara was good at keeping things hidden, too. Diana had drilled her until the urge to fidget and stammer became a sunny smile and a quick wit. “Nowhere and everywhere,” she lied easily. “I ended up in Coast City. It’s got a great art community.” She waved at the art on the walls. “They didn’t ask a lot of questions about my past.”

She waited and watched as Alex absorbed her reply. “You spent this whole time in an art commune?”

Flashing a grin, Kara shrugged. “Why’d you leave medical school? You always wanted to be a doctor.” And run a practice to help people like Kara. Kara gripped the blanket as tightly as she dared without punching her fingers through the fabric.

She’d hit a nerve. Alex’s jaw clenched visibly before she shrugged. “It wasn’t what I thought it would be.”

Or the classes didn’t come with enough Scotch. Kara had read Alex’s final arrest report for driving under the influence. She also knew that Alex had finished her degree after joining the DEO. A physician who spit on the Hippocratic Oath by killing those from other planets or locking them away without due process in DEO black sites.

“Finally get over that crush? Are you seeing anyone?” Kara had definitely hit a sore spot, and Alex had taken off the gloves.

Grin hardening despite Herculean effort, Kara fought to keep voice level. “Not at the moment.” Not ever. Kara was already committed. Something Alex knew very well but had clearly chosen to ignore.

“It’s been years, Kara. Give it up!” Alex snapped.

 _“It’s been years!”_ The words echoed in Kara’s mind, merging with another voice shouting them at her.

_Cleo stared at Kara. Tears streaked her face as she took Kara’s hands and dropped to her knees. “I love you, **mikr**_ **_ós_ ** **_ílios_ ** _. She has dishonored your traditions and broken your troth. I will not. I will spend eternity proving myself worthy of your heart, Kara Zor-El.”_

_The devotion in Cleo’s eyes, the pleading in her voice… Kara pulled away and pressed a hand to her mouth to hold in her pain. She wanted to say yes. Diana and the Amazons had given her a home. A family to replace the one she had lost. Yet Kara was still alone. “I can’t,” she whispered. “Kal-El betrothed me to Alex; I am bound to her, regardless of her denial.” Bound forever. There had been no divorce on Krypton. Kara was the last daughter of the House of El. Honor and tradition were all she had left of her culture. “I’m so sorry.”_

“I can’t.” Kara repeated her response to Cleo. “You know that, Alex. You were very clear that you would never accept our…” Her voice wavered. Broke. “I know you’ll never wear my bonding bracelet,” the delicate, jeweled bracelet she’d handmade under the tutelage of Io herself, with boulder opals that had reminded Kara of Alex’s eyes, “but you don’t need to mock me or my Kryptonian traditions.”

Unable to play their game any longer, Kara stood and grabbed the plates. Neither of them was eating, and Kara knew she wouldn’t eat later. Her stomach, once growling like a grizzly, was now twisted into knots. “I guess holding a plane was harder than I thought. I’m tired.”

She didn’t come right out and demand Alex leave. However, Queen Hippolyta would have sentenced Kara to a week as Antiope’s sparring partner for the breach of manners. Kara dumped the pizza into a trash bag with slow, dull movements.

Alex gripped her shoulders, and Kara’s eyes slid shut at the warm weight. At the _strength_.

Before she could give in, could lean into them, they were gone. The front door closed with a soft thump, reminding Kara that Alex would always walk away. Taking Kara’s hopes and dreams with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to chupeydupey for wrangling this beast into order.

“Miss Zorel!” Cat’s voice sliced through the already tense atmosphere of the staff meeting. “I don’t remember a text from you last night.”

Kara was wise enough not to point out that she _had_ texted. She was sure her brief acknowledgement of Cat’s reminder of this meeting didn’t count. Glancing up, eyes not quite meeting Cat’s, she waited for the other shoe to drop.

One finger tapping at the glass-topped conference table, Cat continued. “I distinctly remember asking if you’d seen the coverage of last night’s Event.” The capital letter was easy to hear. Her tapping stopped as she picked up a remote and clicked a single button.

CatCo’s coverage of Kara saving the plane sprang up on the plasma screen at the far end of the room.

Unwilling to watch (or unable to pry her gaze from Cat’s), Kara could only listen to the excited voice of the reporter. “Did you see that? There’s a _woman_ holding up the plane…Oh my God! She’s about to take out the bridge!”

Kara winced at that. Her first rescue, immortalized by how close she’d come to ramming a plane into a traffic-packed bridge.

Destruction of property wasn’t the problem needing a solution in the cruel light of day. The reporters’ voices disappeared; although, Kara could still see the footage reflected in the window behind Cat’s head. The thing Kara needed to fear more than anything was her boss Cat. A woman who _might_ have won the Queen of Mean award if Leona Helmsley hadn’t already worn the crown.

“What’s the first thing you see in that footage?” Cat asked. Her voice was soft. Too soft.

Goosebumps dotted Kara’s arms as she sensed Cat closing in for the kill. “Um…a n-new superhero?” Training with the legendary General of the Amazon Army and living as a foster daughter to Queen Hippolyta had still not prepared Kara to face an enraged Cat Grant and sound like a competent member of the CatCo staff.

Cat seized on her obvious terror. “No!” The word exploded through the room even though it leaked from between Cat’s clenched teeth. “I saw a chopper from the Planet! Their news crew was the first on the scene!”

She jackknifed from her chair, and every director and department head crammed around the conference table scrambled to follow suit. “Out!” One bony finger jabbed in Kara’s direction. “Not. You.”

Kara’s legs gave out. She dropped gracelessly back into her seat.

“If even one of you fails to get me the items we’ve discussed, I’ll fire you and every member of your team. This is our one chance to put CatCo and the Tribune back on top. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you failure is not an option.”

No one questioned her. They didn’t have to. They’d already been privy to CatCo’s profit and loss projections. Kara huddled in her chair as the rest of the room scuttled out. The silence, as the door closed behind them, wrapped around Kara.

It grew and grew until it suffocated her.

Cat moved closer. Her knees brushed Kara’s trousers. “Do you know why I hired you, Ms. Zorel?”

Kara shook her head rapidly. Her “no” barely penetrated the quiet.

Reaching into the folder she’d tossed onto the table at the start of the meeting, Cat withdrew a photo. “ _This_ was in your portfolio. I saw it, and I thought: here’s someone who can make even the dried up, shriveled thing that was once my heart wake up and beat again.”

The photo landed in front of Kara. She automatically picked it up. It was one of her personal favorites. A little girl in the streets of Mumbai, holding out a single drooping flower, with the reality of the Dharavi slums in stark contrast behind her. The girl’s smile was pure happiness that managed to reach off the glossy paper and make the observer smile back.

“I need the woman who took _that_ photo.” Cat leaned a hip against the conference table, still crowding Kara’s personal space. “I need a photo of the woman who saved that plane. One that will rival this!” She flicked the photo in Kara’s hands with a nail.

Kara huffed a quickly stifled laugh. It would take a miracle for that to happen. She couldn’t very well photograph herself.

“You find this funny?” Cat loomed over her, any hint of camaraderie or pleading absent once again. “Then let me make sure you understand the stakes. Get me a Pulitzer-quality photo of National City’s Supergirl,” a name Cat and her staff had coined during the staff meeting, “or I’ll increase my original offer and convince Jimmy Olsen to finally leave the Planet.”

The sheer impossibility of the request pinned Kara to her seat.

“Chop, chop, Ms. Zorel. Or the next time you’re in the building, you’ll be picking up your box of personal items at the security desk in the lobby.” Cat pointed at the door, finally spurring Kara to her feet.

“Yes, Miss Grant.” As she left the room, Kara’s mind raced. How was she going to make this work? Although she didn’t need to work at CatCo, it was what she _wanted_ to do. When she’d left Themyscira and returned to America, Kara had fallen in love with Cat’s drive. Her dedication to women’s rights and truthful journalism, no matter the cost, inspired Kara.

Somehow, some way, Kara had to find a solution.

***

The solution came accidentally, of course. Fully in the throes of a Very Bad Mood, Kara stomped through her favorite park at lunch. Even the bright sunlight and the shouts of happy children couldn’t penetrate her funk. She dodged parents, kids, and buskers with all her attention devoted to mentally consigning Cat to a tiny cell in the farthest corridors of Fort Rozz.

Fortunately for Cat, Kara’s increasingly violent thoughts derailed when a nearby voice directed, “Stand still! If you keep moving, we’ll have to try again!”

Kara glanced up and spotted a family of four posing beneath a tree. The voice belonged to the father. He fiddled with a camera mounted on a tripod. “OK! Here we go. Hold tight for four…” As he counted, he sprinted back to his family, sliding into an empty spot in the group as he reached a shouted, “One!”

The camera clicked.

So did Kara’s overworked mind.

She was the pride of the House of El; the youngest member in the history of the Science Guild.

Kara was also the complete idiot photographer, who’d forgotten all about timers and continuous shooting. “You want a shot of the new superhero, Miss Grant? I’ll give you a shot to rival Jimmy Olsen’s Pulitzer photo of Cousin Clark.”

Pleased with her plan for the photo, Kara grabbed an armful of hot dogs from her usual vendor and sat down on a bench. Camera problem? Solved. What to wear? Still an issue. If Kara went flying around National City in her regular clothes again, even Diana would object.

Kara munched and mulled over possible costumes. She immediately discarded anything close to Clark’s Superman attire. Kara wanted nothing to do with his brand of style; although, her heart ached to leave her House crest to someone not worthy of its history.

Something light enough to work with the camera…but with enough color not to wash out the photo. And _nothing_ that showed as much skin (or cleavage) as Diana’s barely-there costume. Kara blushed at the thought of being that close to naked on the front cover of the Trib and a host of other CatCo Worldwide papers and magazines.

White, she finally decided. White to resemble her mother’s robes as she’d left the house each morning to arbitrate before the High Council.

Shoveling in the final hot dog, Kara hopped off the bench. This might be harder than getting the picture.

Kara discovered the wonder of athletic tights. They were so tight! She had to laugh at the unintentional pun. Paired with an equally tight, long sleeved spandex shirt, Kara despaired. No one was going to care who or what she saved. All they would see was her ass and boobs.

It would have to do for today. She didn’t have time to do more. Kara still needed to find a dash of color. Her hands faltered as they flicked through the hangers in her closet. Relegated to a place in the back, hung a pair of Kryptonian style robes.

_“Hey! Look at these!” Cleo waved her over to the vendor’s stall. Skeins of bright and colorful fabrics lay on the wooden table at the front while dresses, shirts, and cloaks hung on display within the small tent. “This matches your eyes!” She held up a shirt, grinning at Kara’s blush._

One of the robes in Kara’s closet had been made from that same fabric. Hands shaking, she took it from the hanger.

_“The blue is nice.” However, Kara wasn’t concerned about that. Her eyes locked onto another skein. A brown that somehow reflected the light until it seemed to shimmer with gold flecks, reminding her painfully of Alex’s eyes. “I’d like them made into robes, please,” she told the vendor. She’d give the brown one to Alex on their Bonding Day._

Another tradition, another part of her future – destroyed.

Kara ripped the blue robe into pieces. One piece wide enough and long enough to serve as a cape. The fabric shimmered through a glaze of tears as she left the bedroom in search of needle and thread.

Two hours later, Kara was ready. The outfit was crude. She wasn’t a seamstress, only a baby superhero. Peering into the bathroom mirror, Kara wound the last of the blue fabric around her head and face, hiding everything except her eyes.

Centering herself, Kara _listened_. Sounds burst in her ears. Hundreds of thousands of voices. The mind shattering hum of every machine in National City. The vanity’s granite countertop crumbled as Kara gripped it, fighting for her equilibrium amid the aural onslaught.

Sound battered Kara. She let it roll over and around her. Searching for the just…the right…one.

There! A robbery only a few blocks away.

A multi-car pileup in the spaghetti junction where four major freeways intersected.

Then, one by one, she closed out each voice. Each buzzing engine faded until all that remained was a shrill scream. A cry for help.

Kara grabbed her tripod and camera, leaping from her balcony window between one heartbeat and the next.

At nearly full speed, Kara managed to set up the camera and still grab the robber’s gun before he had a chance to do more than wave it in a terrified young couple’s faces. “Not tonight,” she said softly. Or any night now that “Supergirl” lived in National City.

She plucked the gun from his hand and crushed it between her fingers. “Run. Now.” The crumpled remains of the weapon dropped to the ground with a clatter. The second the robber disappeared from view, she turned to the couple. “Are you hurt?

That was only the first save of the night. Kara flew from one side of the city to the other and back. She stopppe more robberies and foiled break ins. Supergirl saved pedestrians from speeding cars, while taking time pose for pictures with families and kids.

As the sun rose, Kara landed on her balcony. There were only a few hours left before Cat’s deadline. Leaving the blinds open so she could soak up the morning sun, Kara connected the camera to her laptop.

Time to find the shot that would define her and her superhero persona.

***

Marching through the bullpen, Kara ignored the stares and whispers. The gauntlet was familiar. Every employee from the mailroom to the directors faced it each time they made the journey to Cat’s office.

No one approached the glass box without a summons or a looming deadline. The bullpen staff were quick to gossip about whoever was making that long walk. Head high and portfolio clutched in her hands, Kara waltzed by Cat’s assistant and right into the office.

“Miss Zorel. How nice of you to join me.” Cat tossed her glasses onto her desk and leaned back in her chair. “Have you come to beg for more time?”

Today, Kara wasn’t on the defensive. She squared her shoulders, met Cat’s gaze head on, and held out the photos she’d chosen. “No.”

Only the slight upturn of Cat’s lips showed her approval. “Sit.” Unzipping the portfolio, Cat flicked through the glossy images held carefully inside.

Kara had included more than a dozen photos, but only one met her own expectations.

“These are fine.” They were more than fine. Kara wasn’t vain; however, she _was_ aware that her work put even Jimmy Olsen to shame. “Where’s the interview?”

“Your ultimatum,” Kara used the term deliberately, “was a photo.” She dared Cat to argue the point.

She should have known Cat was unafraid to…overstate the truth and to challenge every member of her staff. “Did you _really_ think a picture was worth a thousand words?” Cat’s voice was sharp. “Do you think our readers,” there was clear stress on the word, “only look at the pretty pictures? This isn’t a comic book, Miss Zorel.”

Some of Kara’s confidence faded. She’d been completely focused on meeting the deadline...

“You’re lucky these are so good.” Cat picked up Kara’s favorite. She was sitting on a railing. The wind had whipped her cape out behind her, and a teenage boy clung to her as Kara pressed a kiss (hidden by her “mask) to the top of his head.

_“I just want to talk,” Kara said. She wasn’t really sure what to say and borrowed the words from every police drama on television. Inching a little closer along the railing, she kept her attention on the water far below them._

_The kid shook his head. His toes hung over the edge of the narrow ledge between the bridge and open air. “Go away! I’m tired of talking! Talking won’t bring my dad back!”_

_Kara closed her eyes at the anger in his voice. “I lost my dad, too. I’m sorry. It’s the worst feeling ever.” Knowing she’d never feel Zor-El’s arms around her. Smell the mix of chemicals and metal that clung to his clothing after a day in his lab. Hear the sound of his laughter as he picked her up and spun around and around with her in his arms. “I miss him every day.”_

_“You’re lying. Everyone says that, like they think saying they understand will make me feel better.”_

_Laughing probably wasn’t the best choice. Kara couldn’t help it. “Rao, I hated it when people told me I needed to move on or that the hurt would fade over time.” Damn Kal and his empty platitudes during the three weeks she’d lived in his tiny apartment before he’d abandoned her with the Danvers. The merriment faded as she pulled herself up onto the railing to sit._

_If nothing else, **that**_ _earned some trust from the kid. He moved back from the edge and mirrored Kara’s position. “What happened to your dad?”_

“Speaking of which – how did you get them?” Cat asked. “These are all different people.”

Still rattled, Kara mumbled sullenly, “I spent all night listening to a police scanner and driving all over the city.”

Cat’s left eyebrow rose. “I thought all you Millennials were too eco-conscious to drive.”

“Be happy I have a car, or I would have been solely responsible for CatCo Worldwide Media going bankrupt.”

“Now you’re being a drama queen, Miss Zorel.” Cat closed the portfolio and punched a button on her phone. Kara heard a single ring.

“Carr!”

“Get me a reporter,” Cat ordered without fanfare. “Not that ten-year old you sent the last time I called. He misspelled every other word.”

“Anything else, Your Highness? Maybe one of those fancy coffees or a salad?” Carr asked and Cat actually laughed.

“Next time. Let’s stick with the reporter for now. I’ll expect them in five.” Another jab ended the call. “Don’t you have a job to do? Out! Go!”

***

By Friday, all Kara wanted to do was leave CatCo, go home, and pass out on the couch after devouring a stack of pizzas and several orders of potstickers. Working a second job as a superhero was exhausting.

She did manage to leave her office at a decent hour. Fighting rush hour traffic, though, turned “decent” into something much closer to “late.” Kara was so intent on dropping her briefcase and shoes by the door and yanking off her blazer that she almost missed the intruder sitting on her couch.

“Diana!” Kara was across the room in a blur of superspeed.

She loved hugging her mentor. Diana was one of a select few who could withstand _all_ of Kara’s strength – and who could return that with interest. “Hello, _mikr_ _ós_ _ílios._ I was in the area and thought, perhaps, we could share a meal.”

Kara laughed. “I thought Amazons didn’t lie, _i aderfí mou_.” Diana’s expression turned mischievous. “The last I heard, you were still consulting for the Louvre.”

“Perhaps.” Her shrug betrayed her years in France. “I am here now. Will you continue to accuse me of falsehood? Or am I allowed to visit with a younger, much beloved sibling?”

“Rao, I’ve missed you.” Kara buried her face against Diana’s shoulder.

_“Your drawing is lovely.” Kara startled at the voice and spun, her “art supplies” scattering in all directions. “Forgive me, **paidí**. It was not my wish to scare you.” The woman dropped to a knee. “I only wanted to compliment your art and…perhaps offer a meal? I am new here. I am sure you know the best places to eat.”_

_Eat. Kara was starving. There were a few places she could get a free meal, but they wouldn’t feed her every day. Or they tried to call the Guard…the police because they thought she was too young to live on her own. What if this woman wanted to do the same? Despite a growling stomach, Kara edged away. “No, thank you.”_

_“You may trust me, I promise. My name is Diana, and I only want to help. Please, allow me to visit with you, little sister.”_

“I’ll have dinner with you, but only if I get to pick the place,” Kara said firmly.

“Is that not always how our visits work?” Checking that her ponytail was tight and that no flaw had magically appeared in her suede jacket, Diana walked toward the door. “Before we go, I brought you a present from Lucius and Bruce.”

Kara squealed and made grabby hands. “Let me see it!” Bruce might be the world’s broodiest man, but he and Lucius had the best toys. Toys they didn’t mind sharing. Lucius had made her a hologram projector for her sixteenth birthday that turned any room into the living image of her home in Argo. He’d used her sketches of her childhood home as a model.

“Patience, _paidí_. I thought I had taught you better.” Not that Diana seemed upset by Kara’s impatience. She smiled as she handed over a heavy titanium case.

Taking the case, Kara set it on her small dining table and bent to place her eye in front of the retinal scanner. The four locks at the front of the case snapped open.

“You cannot continue to save humanity in workout clothing, Kara. You shame Themyscira and all Amazons.” Kara heard the gentle teasing and affection in Diana’s voice. “I asked Bruce for something more appropriate. Try it on.”

Kara carefully lifted the suit and cape from the case. The single-piece body suit was pure white with a blue cape attached at the shoulders. All of it was stretchy yet tough, withstanding even Kara’s attempt to poke a finger through the material. It fit like a glove when she dragged it on.

“I am sorry, Kara.”

“Why? This is amazing!” Kara gushed. Then she glanced away from the new clothing and saw the sympathy in Diana’s gaze.

“I searched your closet when I arrived. I thought I had recognized your ‘cape’.” Diana tucked a strand of Kara’s hair behind her ear.

Pulling away, Kara grabbed the final small items from the case: a pair of small gold stud earrings.

Diana plucked them from her hands and fastened them to Kara’s ears.

“Fashionable, but…”

“You laugh; however, these are Lucius’ prized inventions.” Diana tapped the right stud and a blue cowl seemed to grow from the back of the suit until it covered Kara’s hair and the lower half of her face. White gauntlets extended from the sleeves of the body suit. They were a cross between Diana’s smooth bracelets and Bruce’s serrated bracers. Boots the same color as the cape wrapped around her calves and feet.

Diana walked around Kara, peering at the suit. “I prefer the head wrap _you_ used, but Lucius could not replicate the style. He continues to work on it.” She tapped the left stud – and the cape disappeared. “It folds into the suit so that you may wear everything beneath your regular clothes. You will have to ask Bruce how it all works.” She raised an eyebrow. “I know you cannot resist a scientific mystery.”

It was an unbelievable gift. “I don’t know what to say…”

Diana shrugged again. “Then say nothing. It was a gift from the heart. Bruce _does_ have one buried deep beneath the weight of his fortune.”

Kara was glad her cowl hid her smile at the usual caustic jab at Bruce. Diana made them often, yet it was no secret that she and Bruce were old friends and comrades in arms. “I’ll be the best dressed hero in National City.” She reluctantly used the earrings to retract everything except the body suit and dragged her work clothes over it. “How about Mr. Woo’s? They have the best…”

After days of monitoring National City for crime, Kara came to attention at the wail of sirens and the sounds of screams.

“Go. Save your city. We will eat when you return.” Diana waved at the couch. “You have wine, and I brought a book.”

Kara left her pants and blouse on the living room floor and triggered the boots, cape, and gauntlet. She hurtled out the balcony doors and into the night sky. Smoke and flames billowed from a building a few miles away. Kara zipped in that direction, pulling up as she arrived on the scene.

FDNC was not on site yet. She squinted, peering through the layers of concrete and steel, examining the structure…

A glowing green dart pinged off her suit. Then another and another. Kara flew higher and transferred her gaze to a black-clad, gun-toting group weaving in and out of the shadows near the burning building.

Without stopping to think up a plan, Kara dove at them. She seized every single gun and crushed them one by one. Her boots left divots in the asphalt as she landed. “Playing with guns isn’t nice,” she reprimanded them. “I’ve got a fire to put out.”

The men and women stared back at her in any combination of shock, awe, and fear.

Except one.

One lone commando stepped out of the shadows.

Alex.

Alex, who pulled a handgun from a hidden holster and pointed it directly at Kara. “Get the cuffs on her. Now!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A million thanks to chupeydupey for keeping on the right path with this chapter!

Kara stared at Alex and the gun. She felt split into two entities. One part of her was able to think and analyze. That Kara knew the gun couldn’t harm her and was mentally calculating the speed and angle needed to seize the weapon before Alex could pull the trigger. The other part of Kara felt her eyes heat.

Heat was bad. No matter how angry or hurt Kara was, she couldn’t risk unleashing her heat vision. Unlike the rest of her powers, Kara still struggled to control this one.

A boot scuffed the pavement. Kara snapped her head around, the entire alley now awash in a white-hot haze. An agent crept toward her with a pair of cuffs, glowing the same green as the darts.

The anger rose even more. This was all Alex’s fault. Wrenching her attention back to the cause of her current situation (and the root of years of heartache), Kara prayed to Rao for one more minute of self-control. Molten tears slid down her cheeks. “What happened to you? What did I ever do to make you hate me this much?” she asked in a whisper. “You are _o_ _k_ _átochos tis psych_ _ís mou_. Alex of the House of El.”

Alex’s finger tightened on the trigger – and Kara’s control slipped. She leapt into the sky before she turned the gun (and Alex) into ash. A scream wrenched from her throat a millisecond ahead of the sonic boom of her rapid ascent.

Kara didn’t stop her wild flight until she was so far into the atmosphere that ice crystals formed on her face and arms. The crystals melted with sharp hisses from the heat soldering beneath Kara’s skin. Panting steam, Kara finally released her pain in wild bursts of white-hot blasts.

_“Hey, I’m Alex.”_

_Kara stared at the other girl, puzzling out the meaning of her words. She’d been working with Kal-El (Clark, his name was Clark now) on her English, but it was still sometimes difficult for her. “I am Kara Zor-El.” She wanted to say more. Today was a momentous occasion. Kara had dreamed of this day, the most important day in her lifetime. “I am…” What was the right word?_

_She glanced at Clark, but he was huddled with Lord and Lady Dan-vers. Perhaps finalizing the terms of the betrothal. “I am happy to be yours,” she finally said._

_Alex smiled, and Kara smiled back. “Happy to be my sister? You’ll probably change your mind, but welcome to the family, Kara.”_

The cold, which Kara rarely felt, leeched into her bones after a while. She flew home slowly. Not even returning the excited waves of people on the streets dislodged the weight in her heart. Her boots scraped the railing as she landed on her balcony.

All the lights were still on inside. Her small table had disappeared beneath all her favorites from Mr. Woo’s. Mounds of potstickers and egg rolls. Three plates filled with General Tso’s chicken.

“Welcome back, _mikr_ _ós_ _ílios._ ” Diana had shed her jacket and boots. Her bare feet did nothing to lessen her presence in Kara’s home. “When you did not return quickly, I thought perhaps take out was the better option. Zhang Guoli wishes you great health and thanks you and your family for being such great patrons.”

Mr. Zhang’s belief that Kara ordered for a family and not herself alone usually drew a laugh. Kara couldn’t manage even a chuckle now.

She felt Diana observing her as she pressed the new earrings to retract all but the bodysuit. The outfit she’d been so happy to have now constricted her movement until Kara fought to breathe. Kara dragged down the zipper at the back of her neck and yanked the fabric off her arms.

Ignoring her friend and mentor, Kara continued to strip off the suit on her way to the bedroom. She couldn’t remove it fast enough. It littered the carpet as Kara stepped free. She donned shapeless sweatpants and a hoodie in its place. Something Kara could huddle into. 

She turned away from the closet and stopped.

_Alex brandished her gun at Kara._

Her gun. At Kara.

Alex was never going to be what Kara had dreamed of since childhood.

The brown Bonding Day robe slipped easily off the hanger and landed on the floor. Kara stood over it.

_“It’s perfect,” Kara told the vendor. “It’s for my bond mate. A gift for our bonding day celebration.”_

_The older woman smiled. “She’s an incredibly lucky woman. May Athena grant you both happiness **, mikr**_ **_ós_ ** **_ílios_ ** _.”_

Neither Athena nor Rao believed Kara deserved happiness. Her eyes heated. Kara didn’t run from her heat vision a second time. The robe burst into flames, the scent filling her nose and lining the back of her throat.

“Kara!” Diana pushed her out of the way and stamped on the smoldering cloth and burning fibers of the carpet beneath. “What has gotten into you?”

With a silent shrug, Kara slunk passed Diana – until a hand wrapped around her arm. “Kara. What is wrong, _paidí_? I know what the robe meant to you.”

Refusing to answer, Kara stood stiff and silent.

Diana didn’t press for a response. Instead, she pulled Kara into a rib-crushing hug.

“Alex works for the DEO,” she whispered. “She was there. At the fire.” All of a sudden, Kara connected those facts. Kara turned and buried her face in Diana’s shoulder. “Holy Rao, Diana. The fire could have been a trap. She _knew_ I’d be there!”

Lips pressed against her hair, and Diana rocked them from side to side. “Surely, your _mni̱stí̱_ would not dishonor you that much, Kara.”

A harsh, broken laugh tore from her. “She had a squad of agents with her. They tried to shoot me out of the sky with green darts.”

Diana stiffened. “Green darts?” She stepped away and peered closely at Kara. “Did they hurt you? Even a scratch, Kara?” Urgency crackled like electricity in her questions.

“No!” Kara shook her head. “They bounced off my suit. Why? What are they?”

“Something that I hoped you would never have to experience.” Diana’s accent thickened. “Years ago, when Bruce and I worked with Superman to form the Justice League, Bruce discovered that a mineral from Krypton could be used to strip the powers granted by Earth’s sun. Superman called it Kryptonite.”

Kara wrenched away from Diana and was out the window before the other woman could stop her. She landed in the alley where she’d met Alex’s DEO troops. The agents were long gone; not that Kara cared. She wasn’t here for Alex.

She was here for the darts.

The DEO were thorough, though. Kara didn’t find a single dart. She searched for long minutes, overturning filthy pallets and moving dumpsters. Finally, Kara spotted a hint of a green glow. Carefully lifting away debris, she uncovered broken glass. The edges glowed a sullen green.

Keeping Diana’s words in mind, Kara used some discarded newspaper to pick up the shards. She wrapped them up in another sheet and stuffed it into the pocket of her hoodie. The trip back was slower. Maybe she’d overdone it with all the flying and laser blasts earlier. Kara felt completely enervated, and her body…ached?

She lost altitude, skimming the rooftop garden of the Pegasus Building. Kara strained to fly higher. She succeeded; however, the short flight home seemed to take days. She was soaked with sweat as she lurched over the balcony railing and tumbled into her bedroom.

Diana waited for her. She nimbly kept Kara from ending her flight on the floor. “Kara.”

The tight clip of the syllables was a warning. Kara had pushed Diana about as far as possible before the friend and mentor turned into a stern princess and commander. It was enough to get Kara onto her feet, back straight. A warrior reporting to her superior. “I went back for the darts so Bruce could test them to see if it _was_ Kryptonite.”

She wasn’t expecting Diana to lunge forward. “Where is it? Kara! Tell me you didn’t touch it!”

“I didn’t.” She fumbled in her pocket. “I wrapped it up.” She thrust the wad of dirty newspaper and glass shards at Diana.

Diana seized the material and strode out of the bedroom. “Stay here. You should not be near this until Bruce has assured us you are safe.” Kara heard her press the buttons on her cellphone.

The call wasn’t necessary. The exhaustion and pain she’d experienced on the flight back faded the minute Diana left the room. That meant…Alex had ambushed her, and she’d intended to use Kryptonite to take away Kara’s powers.

Kara walked into the living room, ignoring Diana’s signal to leave. This was Kara’s home. Damn Alex and some tiny piece of her dead home world.

“I’m sure it is Kryptonite, Bruce. However, I will send a courier to Wayne Enterprises with a sample tonight.” Diana frowned as she listened to Bruce’s reply. One Kara could hear, too, thanks to her enhanced senses.

“Lucius and I made the suit to withstand anything less than a Kryptonite missile, Diana.” He sounded wide awake even though it was late in Gotham. “The DEO…They’re as much a thorn in our sides as that new anti-alien group: Cadmus.”

A new anti-alien group? Kara hadn’t heard anything about that.

“This is personal.” Diana glanced at Kara. “They are targeting our _paidí._ ”

Bruce sighed. “We should have expected that. I’ve been following their activities ever since Clark went head to head with them.” There was a pause. The rustle of papers. He was probably still at the office. When Bruce spoke again, his voice was lower. “Does she know? About the Danvers girl?”

Diana walked away as Kara grappled with that piece of information. Bruce had _known_ about Alex? Had Diana? “Why didn’t you tell me?” Apparently not. A little of the knot in Kara’s chest unwound. At least _one_ person in her life wasn’t keeping secrets or trying to hurt her. “The girl was with the DEO agents who attacked Kara tonight.”

A slew of curses had Diana pulling the phone from her ear and striding to the window.

Kara watched without listening anymore. She’d heard enough. Bruce and Diana had intimate knowledge of the DEO and their missions. Bruce had kept Alex’s role with the DEO a secret, and everyone except Kara knew about the effects of Kryptonite.

Rage smoldered deep inside. Not the hot anger from earlier. This was cold. It allowed Kara to examine everything that had happened and everything she’d learned. As the pieces came together, Kara examined the picture it created.

She walked to the table and picked up the plates of food. Diana couldn’t be part of whatever Kara decided to do next. One, it wasn’t Diana’s fight. It was Kara’s. She’d put the DEO into motion, presumably by coming out as Supergirl. And two, Diana was sure to object to Kara firing the first shot in this war.

Pretending everything was normal, Kara put the food in the microwave. Diana still had her back to the living room and kitchen. Using super speed, she dashed to the paper-wrapped, Kryptonite-laced glass shards and stole one.

The Kryptonite hit Kara almost immediately, but she didn’t think it affected her enough for Diana to notice her return to the kitchen. She dropped the glass shard into a baggie, zipped it closed, and hid it in a bag of rice in her pantry.

When the microwave dinged, Kara calmly retrieved the food and returned to the table. She ate a potsticker. Even drank some wine. Diana eventually sat across from her and picked up her own half-drunk glass. As Kara watched, she rolled her eyes fondly and said, “Yes, Bruce. I’ll tell her. And I promise to get that courier to you tonight. I’ll call them the minute I’m off with you.”

It must have been the right thing for her to say. Seconds later, Diana uttered a quiet, “Goodnight.”

“Bruce says he sends his love and that I am to hug you in his stead.” Tilting her head, Diana watched Kara for a moment. “You look much better; although, I would wish that you were farther from the Kryptonite.” Diana reached for one of Kara’s hands. “We will deal with this threat together, _paidí._ Bruce already has Lucius testing upgrades to the suit. A stronger material to shield you as well as a filter should the DEO attempt to vaporize the Kryptonite.”

Kara stared at their joined hands. It went against everything she’d learned on Themiscyra. There were no secrets between sisters. More than that, she owed Diana and the Queen for taking her in and making her part of the royal family.

Swallowing the truth and another potsticker, Kara forced a smile. “I’ll be fine,” she lied.

Diana raised a brow. “I know what today has cost you, little sister. You do not have to hide that from me. You _will_ be fine. Of that, I have no doubt. Lean on me until your grief passes, as it must, with time.”

Nothing could stop Kara’s tears. “There is no hope left, _i aderfí mou._ I will always be alone. Alex has all but broken our promised bond.”

“A bond that only you believed in, my darling.” Diana squeezed Kara’s hand more tightly. “She is human, and your cousin blundered into a Kryptonian tradition of which he knew nothing. I am sorry that it ended in this fashion. I thought surely that you would be able to at least mend your friendship.”

Kara had believed for so long that Alex would come to her. Clark was a fool who was more human than Kryptonian. Alex, though, had been her friend. Her fiercest protector. Kara had believed that Alex was the one piece of her heritage to survive the destruction of Krypton.

“I don’t think friends point guns at you and ask armed agents to put handcuffs on you.” Kara’s voice broke, and she swiped at the tears that simply would not stop. “It’s OK. Or…it will be.”

It would be. As soon as she put her plan in place.

***

Kara was at the office early the next morning. She checked in with the photographers and freelancers the Art Department had under contract. She summoned a staffer to run layouts to Cat and sent several photos back for rework.

Then she made her way down to the floor housing the warren of cubicles and workstations for _Tribune_ reporters.

“Yeah?” Snapper Carr was as rude in person as he had sounded on the phone with Cat. “You get lost, Ponytail? The executives and their fancy glass offices are a few floors up.”

Stepping into his tiny office and closing the door, Kara fingered the baggie with the glass shard in her purse. Sweat beaded her forehead, and nausea surged. “The fire last night? I tracked it on a police scanner and almost got a shot of Supergirl at the scene.”

What was she doing? Kara’s certainty in her plan wavered. As angry as she was at Alex, did she really want to tell Snapper about the DEO? “I couldn’t get a photo, but I saw something. Something important. There were…soldiers or…or mercenaries shooting weird green darts at Supergirl.” Kara decided at the last second not to mention Alex or the DEO by name.

Now was the perfect time to give Snapper the Kryptonite laced glass. Yet Kara still hesitated.

Snapper frowned. “You didn’t get a shot of it? ‘Cause I can run with that.”

“I was still driving. I couldn’t get a good angle even with my phone.”

“You think there’s a story, though.” He might look like a grumpy troll, but Snapper was all business now.

Kara nodded. “People shooting at Supergirl? That’s a story.” If she gave him the glass, there was no going back. She’d done her research. Snapper Carr ran the _Tribune_ with an iron fist and an old school nose for scandal. He’d dig and dig until her discovered what was on the glass. He was sure to make the connection between the Kryptonite, Supergirl, and Superman.

There _might_ be a way around revealing her Kryptonian heritage. Letting the baggie drop back to the bottom of her purse, Kara tried another tack. “I went looking for one of the darts, but they were all gone. Who takes the time to do that?” She hated playing the dumb blonde; however, it was a useful tool.

“Huh. Not your average weekend warrior, that’s for sure.” Snapper viciously chewed the end of an unlit cigar. “You got anything else?”

“No.” The glass shards mocked Kara.

Snapper turned away, silently dismissing her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> o kátochos tis psychís mou - the holder of my soul (bondmate/soulmate inference as used in the fic)  
> mikrós ílios - little sun  
> paidí - child/little girl  
> i aderfí mou - my sister


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to chupeydupey for saving me from my grammar woes.

Three weeks later, Kara hovered over the towering glass and steel structures of downtown National City. Fading sunlight glimmered and refracted in a wave of pinks, reds, and oranges. While flying at night was safer, and usually more fruitful for crime fighting, _this_ was her favorite time of day. The deeper shades of light reminded her Krypton.

“ _I see you, Father_ ,” she murmured the words of the daily Invocation to Rao. “ _I thank you for your light and your care. I ask that you continue to guide my thoughts and my steps along the path you have chosen for me. I am your faithful servant and daughter even in the darkness of night_.”

Arms spread in supplication, Kara waited until the sun had completely disappeared from the sky before resuming her patrol. She weaved around buildings and watched cars and people stream in and out of the city.

There, hiding among the regular citizens, Kara spotted her shadows. They were there no matter what time of day or night Kara took to the sky as Supergirl. Tonight, she spotted only fifteen black-clad humans. Sometimes there were more: groups of ten or twelve agents. No matter the time of day, the location, or the number of troops, Alex was always there.

This group was the largest yet. Twin desires warred inside. One, to fly down and take their weapons the way she had the night of the fire. Another, to fly away so far and so fast they’d never keep up. Option two had been her standard response so far, and so far, it had failed.

No matter where Kara went, they found her. Alex’s doing? Had she given the DEO Kara’s identity?

As she stared at Alex and the other agents, Kara remembered that she and Snapper had opened up a third option.

_“Have a seat,” Kara told the two freelancers. They weren’t part of her usual pool of photographers. She’d searched through a mountain of online magazines and websites for a specific set of skills. These were the best of the bunch outside of the top tier war correspondents and National Geographic._

_Both looked out of place amidst the glitz and glass of the CatCo executive offices. “Why are we here?”_

_The question wasn’t unexpected. Kara had been deliberately vague when she’d asked them to come in for an interview._

_The thin, nervous young man who asked the question managed to meet Kara’s gaze. “Snapping octogenarian grandmas and a Senator caught with his pants down isn’t my life’s dream.”_

_Kara smiled. “Good thing that’s not what I need you to do.”_

_He relaxed slightly, fingers releasing their death grip on the arms of his chair. “So…”_

_Rather than respond immediately, Kara glanced at the older woman seated next to him. “Do you have any questions?”_

_She was harder to read, her face a blank mask. “No. You’ll tell us when you’re ready.” There was a hint of mockery in the words. She had yet to make eye contact, preferring to examine the photos lining the walls of the office._

_“I don’t have time…”_

_“Shut up, Bob.” Now the woman showed emotion: disdain – and a wry affection. “Keep it in your pants for once.”_

_Kara bit her lip to hide a smile. She had to strike the right balance. “Maybe Bob’s right. I’ve wasted enough of your time today.” Sliding two sealed manila envelopes across her desk, Kara got down to business. “I want to hire you for a special project.”_

Fifteen black-clad men and women following Supergirl on a quiet crime night in National City? Snapper would put that above the fold, without a doubt. Especially if…

The air patterns around Kara subtly changed. It was the only warning she had.

A hard, metal form slammed into her. They tumbled, entwined, toward the nearest skyscraper. Kara fought the unforgiving arms banded around her body. She twisted and turned as much as possible, needing to at least slow their flight or alter their trajectory.

The National City Bank tower was still lit. People were working late.

She wrenched one arm free and slammed her fist into the _thing_ clinging to her like a koala. Although she felt no pain, the energy rebound numbed her arm and hand. The tingling was worth it, though, as Kara managed to shove away from its hold.

Grabbing the armored man or robot (Kara didn’t take the time to look more closely) by the shoulders, she shoved both feet down toward the ground and used that momentum to drive them up and away from the bank tower.

Kara paid for her success. Blow after blow landed on her torso and face. They didn’t hurt, but they had enough force to change their course. “What _are_ you?” she demanded, ducking another powerful punch.

There was no answer.

“I’m not…a fan of the strong, silent type.” Kara managed a bit of separation and poured on the speed. Her plan was to get out of the city and away from the possibility of innocent deaths.

She almost made it. “Oh, come on!” Kara shouted on the heels of a pained grunt. Her opponent was wrapped around her again, and they were headed straight toward the ground, picking up speed with every second.

Nothing Kara tried worked. She couldn’t get free, not by twisting or kicking. Her arms were trapped. Her hair whipped into her face and eyes from the rush of their descent. If she hit the ground like this, on the bottom and with the added mass of her attacker, would even her Kryptonian powers save her?

Kara needed a new strategy. Brute force had failed.

_“No! You must not rely on your superhuman strength.” General Antiope strode through the pairs grappling under the unforgiving summer heat._

_Kara came to attention, barely breathing as Antiope loomed into her personal space. She didn’t dare shift away or glance at the other women around them for support._

_The next thing she knew, Antiope had locked one foot behind one of Kara’s, gripped her by the shoulders, and dragged her to the ground in a single, smooth move. A knife appeared at Kara’s throat. “If this knife could penetrate your skin, you would be dead.”_

Antiope hadn’t stopped with that move. Kara had spent her years on Themyscira as the general’s private student. That experience would hopefully save her now.

Kara couldn’t use her arms; however, her legs were free. She wrapped them around her attacker and rolled her hips to the left. Kara felt a moment of give in its torso and did her best to follow her hips with her shoulders.

She thought she’d failed. It was like pushing a mountain. Then Kara noticed the stars overhead blur and change. There was no time to celebrate the win. Her new position on “top” gave her a perfect view of the ground rushing to meet them.

In the scant second left, Kara did her best to brace.

The impact slammed her into the metal body of the robot and then the ground. Nothing broke; it couldn’t. However, Kara couldn’t _breathe_. The _sound_ of metal and flesh hitting compacted earth reverberated in her head and buffeted her hearing with wave after wave of _noise_. She staggered to her feet, hands pressed uselessly over her ears.

Nothing helped. Voices, cars, the hum of telephone lines and electrical wires, planes, dogs…Kara couldn’t control it, and she couldn’t shut it out. She dropped to her hands and knees.

A booted foot lifted her from the ground. Kara flew, not under her own power, across the abandoned parking lot where they’d landed. She tumbled head over heels until she hit the ground, leaving a Supergirl-shaped divot in the uneven asphalt.

The few streetlights in the lot allowed Kara to watch as her red-clad enemy stalked toward her again. He or it wasn’t human. She could see the metallic shine of its face. A red funnel cloud spun where its feet had been, propelling it across the intervening space before Kara could recover.

It hit her over and over. It picked her up and threw her into the ground.

Kara was alone and helpless.

_“Everything will be alright, Kara.” Alura touched Kara’s cheek. “You need to get in the pod. Remember, your father and I love you. We know you’ll care for Kal-El.” Her eyes brightened with tears, and Kara threw herself into her mother’s arms. “I love you, Kara. Now, you must go!”_

_Alura pried Kara’s arms from around her neck and pulled her toward a pod with the House of El crest on the side. Up ahead, Kara glimpsed the bright burst of light indicating another pod (Kal-El’s) had already blasted off._

_With Alura’s help, she climbed into the cushioned seat and strapped on the safety harness. Kara had completed all of the flight training classes. She knew what to do next and pressed the sequence of buttons that closed the pod’s hatch and began the launch sequence._

_The force of the launch shoved her back into the plush pilot’s seat, and Kara listened to the thunderous crack as her shuttle pod sped away from Krypton. This was only her third solo launch. She turned her head to watch her home in the distance…_

_What was happening?_

_Darkness covered the continent where Argo City should have been. Red flares burst from where Kara thought Kandor might be. Geography was not her best subject. She kept watching, one hand pressed to the glass hatch._

_Another flash of light. This one blue-white. A percussion wave. She recognized it from a science experiment she and Zor-El had done when she was five. Kara smiled, remembering her father’s excitement as he’d shown her how to create the original explosion in the test chamber._

_The wave grew. Kara screamed, the sound swallowed by the dampening panels in the shuttle. It hit the side of the pod, causing it to spin. Kara screamed again, grabbing for the safety harness as it tightened to the point of pain around her torso. The stars whirled as the pod tumbled through space, and then…_

No! Kara climbed to her feet with a scream of defiance. She wasn’t that little girl stuck in a shuttle pod while her planet exploded. “I don’t know who you are, but this ends now.” She squinted, triggering her heat vision.

The laser beams stopped the robot in its tracks for a few seconds, then it continued.

“Not. Happening.” Kara squared her shoulders and leaned forward. Her hands clenched into fists. “This is my city!” It was almost on top of her. Kara hit it with her heat vision again. She poured everything she had into turning the metal monster into slag.

Her heat vision didn’t work! Kara took a step forward and screamed. Her eyes and face burned as the heat rose. The red monster’s chest began to glow. Dull red, bright red, orange. Kara’s body was on the verge of melting. Sweat slicked her skin and dampened her hair. She just needed a little more power.

Muscles taut with effort, Kara held her heat vision steady. One second. Two. Until the metal man disappeared in an explosion of white-hot particles.

Kara stumbled and fell. Her vision returned to normal. Well, kind of normal. The parking lot was darker, and the cacophony of sounds was silent. She got to her feet, wavering.

“Supergirl!” People lined the once empty parking lot. A few had cameras. Most held up cell phones. They cheered and waved.

She managed to wave back and noticed her hand and arm trembling. Rao, she had to get away before her audience noticed – or Kara simply collapsed. Jumping into the air was more difficult than Kara expected. She gained altitude slowly, as if she once again carried a commercial plane balanced on her shoulder. No matter how hard Kara tried, she couldn’t rise high enough to fly over the few skyscrapers between the parking lot and her apartment building. She glided sluggishly among the buildings, barely able to respond to the smiles and waves from those working late of the offices she passed.

Three blocks from home, Kara plummeted to the ground. She thankfully landed with more control than when the red monster had been shoving her out of the sky, but that didn’t keep her from grunting when she dropped into an alley. She stumbled to her hands and knees.

“Ouch!” Kara winced as she used a rough brick wall to help her stand. She was filthy, but her uniform remained intact. Touching both ear studs, Kara hoped no one noticed that she wore a superhero’s body suit with a pair of polished brogues. Maybe Bruce could design a way to keep her normal clothes stored somewhere on or under the suit.

For now, she’d have to walk home and pray to Rao that it was too late for most people to still be wandering the sidewalk.

***

Kara flung the alarm clock across the room. It couldn’t be time to get up already. She’d just gotten home, right? She reached for her phone and cried out. Holy Rao! Everything hurt. Even her hair.

The clock hadn’t lied. Kara needed to head to CatCo. Especially because Cat, Snapper, Diana, and Bruce had blown up her phone while she slept. Diana and Bruce, at least, inquired how she felt and wanted details of last night’s fight.

_Call me, Kara. I am worried. The news showed you falling from the sky and using your heat vision._ Diana had firsthand knowledge of Kara’s struggles to use that particular power.

Bruce’s comments were more…oblique. _The suit looks good on you. Lucius and I are working on some tools to help with staying in the air and cushioning a fall if all else fails. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation. It always gets me back in fighting form the morning after._

The messages from Cat and Snapper, though, were all urgent business. They were ready to run the first segment of the story Kara had given to Snapper. They needed her at the office hours ago to help with a photo spread of the fight and the black-clad commandos following Supergirl.

Showering and dressing took forever. Kara couldn’t seem to move faster than a Yerratian feexacle coming out of hibernation. She even called for an Uber because the thought of her usual morning drive to work seemed like too much effort.

She even bypassed Noonan’s. She’d eat after meeting with Cat and Snapper. Waving at Ken, the morning guard at the security desk, Kara badged through the turnstiles and did her best to run for an available elevator.

A weird smell tickled her nose as she lunged into an elevator car as the doors began to close. Barely getting a hand up, Kara sneezed. What in the name of Rao _was_ that? She peered at the people in the car using the shining metal of the door. No one made eye contact or even spoke, but Kara’s nose said it was more than likely the sweating, balding man to her left. The people around him kept edging away.

She sneezed again and glared at the numbers above the elevator door. Why, today of all days, were they stopping on every floor? By the time Kara stepped out onto the twenty-fifth floor, the tickle in her throat had become a burning ache and she’d added coughing to her list of problems.

Nearly stomping in frustration, Kara braved the gauntlet to Cat’s office. She spotted Snapper (minus his cigar), Cat, and another woman huddled around Cat’s desk. The scene screamed tension and breaking news.

Kara barely acknowledge Cat’s assistant as she slipped into the office.

“Was there a line at Starbucks?” Cat snapped. “Or did that car of yours break down?”

Perfect. A Cat Grant Tantrum before coffee or breakfast. Kara opened her mouth to respond – and coughed instead. “Sorry,” she mumbled through another round of hacking.

Cat’s upper lip curled in disgust. “Don’t you come a single step closer. If you’re sick, you need to leave. I won’t have you spewing your germs all over this office and infecting the rest of my staff.”

“I’m not sick.” Kara hadn’t been ill since leaving Krypton, one of the best benefits of Earth’s yellow sun. Then, as if to mock her boast, Kara coughed and then sneezed.

The unknown woman held out a tissue. “My sister’s dating a reporter at the Planet in Metropolis. He doesn’t get sick often, either, but even the strongest immune system breaks down under the right conditions.” As Kara plucked the tissue from her hand, the woman continued, “I’m Lucy Lane, CatCo’s new General Counsel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate every single comment for this fic. Some of you... Well, the ESP is working. It's been hard to reply without giving away how close you've come to figuring out some of the upcoming plot points - like Lucy and Red Tornado in this chapter.
> 
> Keep the comments coming. I love interacting about the characters and the plot, and sometimes, you've got better ideas than the Muse or I could ever dream up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many, many thanks to chupeydupey for convincing me not to scrap this entire chapter and put my Muse up for sale.

It didn’t take any of Kara’s genius to understand Lucy’s meaning. Reporter. Planet. Metropolis. Lane. They all added up to one big, pain in the ass Clark Kent. “Thanks,” she said, taking the tissue with barely enough time to cover her mouth and nose for the next powerful sneeze.

Suddenly aware of a myriad of new body aches and pains, she inched her way around Snapper. It put an entire desk between her and Clark’s friend.

Ignoring Lucy’s wry smile at the maneuver, Kara blew her nose and focused on the images spread across Cat’s desk. “These are really good.” Holy Rao. What was happening to her voice? It rasped from her throat until she sounded like the old lady who’d run the small grocery store in Midvale.

Snapper grunted his agreement. “I’m saving everything above the fold in tomorrow’s edition, plus extra space on page three.” He glanced at Cat. “This is bigger than Ollie North or Lewinsky. Rumors of government black ops groups tied with anti-alien terrorists.”

“Like Cadmus?” Kara nearly bit off her tongue when the question spewed from her mouth in time with a rattling cough.

“What would _you_ ,” Cat’s emphasis placed Kara on the same level with employees at McDonald’s, “know about that?”

A sneezing fit gave Kara a little more time to fabricate an explanation. Her words came out blunted and thick from the pressure in her sinuses. “It’s my job to chase Supergirl around the city. I hear things hanging out at the docks or in disgusting alleys waiting for her to zoom in and save the day.” She didn’t back down, even when Cat’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’m the one who took this story to Snapper.”

Lucy interrupted the silent standoff. “If we’re about to blow a hole in some secret government agency, we need safeguards. The Patriot Act gives a lot more latitude for seizing records or any documents they want, as long as the government says they suspect it may lead to a terrorist act.”

Cat leaned back in her chair. “This could easily lead to a black site prison or police state tactics.” She glanced at each of them. “If you want out, there will be no repercussions. I will _not_ ask you to put yourself on the line, and I won’t threaten you. This is the real deal, people.”

No one moved; although, Kara wondered if staying was really the right choice for her. She’d begun this fiasco by coming out as Supergirl and then by approaching Snapper. It had all been _her_ choice. A choice which could impact many other people: Diana, Bruce, Lucius. The entire Justice League.

Alex.

She felt Cat’s gaze. For once, not ready to sear flesh from bone. Considering. Even patient. “Kara?”

“I…” Kara would always remember the Danvers’ fear that she would be discovered as an alien, and Alex’s panic the night she’d saved the plane. They’d told her, over and over again, that being non-human was dangerous.

This was her chance to do something about that. “I’m in,” she said firmly. She’d warn Diana and the others later. Kara had been sent to Earth to help Kal. She couldn’t do that, for a variety of valid reasons. She _could_ help the other species who’d fled to Earth in search of asylum and a new place to call home. Diana and the others would surely understand that.

“Then let’s get down to business.” Cat flicked her fingers over the photographs. “Snapper, get your reporter to a safe house. Take care of it personally. I also want hardcopies of his articles buried in the Vaults.” The Vaults were the warren of filing cabinets and rows upon rows of shelving units crammed with boxes filled with every edition of every CatCo Worldwide magazine or newspaper since its inception.

“You want me to personally memorize every word, too? Give the kid a room in my apartment?” Snapper heaved himself from his chair, and a cigar appeared from his rumpled sport coat pocket. “We’re too old for all this.” He gnawed on the unlit cigar as he stomped away.

Cat turned back to Kara and Lucy. “Kara, you’re the one who found the story. I want a handwritten account of what or who tipped you off. No names! Refer to them as sources. CatCo has _never_ given up its sources, and I have no intention of letting you do it now. Make copies of your statement. One for me, Lane, and Snapper. Hide three or four more in places only you know about. Lane, the Patriot Act makes this riskier than any story CatCo’s published. What are we looking at?”

Compelled by the urgency of Cat’s orders, Kara had already grabbed one of the dozen legal pads littering Cat’s desk. She wrote an abridged version of the night she’d been attacked by Alex and the others from the DEO as Cat and Lucy hashed out details of which sections of the Patriot Act might apply and whether they could count on support from the ACLU.

When Kara finished her statement, she stood – and the world wavered. She’d been so intent on writing an account that didn’t allude to her identity as Supergirl or her knowledge of the DEO that she hadn’t realized how hot it had grown in Cat’s office. Or of how badly her head and throat hurt.

Of course, Cat noticed. She hunted through the piles of photos, layouts, and reports on her desk before discovering one of the three pairs of glasses resting on her head. Her eyes glinted through the lenses. “Did I, or did I not, tell you to leave if you were sick?”

Pinned in place by the glare (surely worthy of even Queen Hippolyta), Kara managed to nod on the tail end of another sneeze.

“Then why are you still here?”

Kara held up her statement. “You wanted…”

“Go. Now.” A bony finger pointed to the door. “Make your copies on the way out; I’ll have Edith,” Kara thought Cat’s assistant’s name was actually Eden, “scrub the copy room and everything you might have touched with bleach.”

Eden _did_ follow Kara to the copy room. Armed with two containers of bleach wipes, she hovered in the doorway to the claustrophobic room jammed with two massive machines and shelves of paper and supplies. It took minutes for Kara to make copies of her three handwritten pages. As she gathered them up, Eden moved in, wipes at the ready.

Maybe Eden should have wiped _Kara_ down. Her nose wouldn’t stop dripping and she coughed or sneezed every few seconds.

 _“Make it stop, **i aderf**_ ** _í mou_.**” _Pulling the heavy blanket up to her nose, Kara shivered again. It was so cold in her room, despite the roaring fire and the pile of blankets on the bed. “It hurts!” Kara had not experienced pain since leaving Krypton, and sickness? That had been nearly extinct on her home planet._

_Diana smoothed back Kara’s lank, sweaty hair. “I know, **mikrós ílios**. I know. You must be strong, like the warrior you are.” Her smile was comforting and stern at the same time. “Remember this when you are once again tempted to use your eyes,” Diana tapped Kara’s right temple, “to find the perfect gems for your **o kátochos tis psychís sas**.”_

_Kara pouted. The boulder opals would match Alex’s eyes. She hadn’t known there were limits to the powers granted by Sol’s rays. “Will my powers come back?” Although Kara had not enjoyed her extra abilities for long, she didn’t want to be returned to human-like normalcy._

_A little of her misery faded under the sound of Diana’s laugh. “Epione is certain they shall. Rest, sun, and plenty of food – which I am sure you will enjoy.” She stood, smoothing the blankets, and kissed Kara’s forehead. “Sleep. I shall visit again when you wake.”_

If only Diana and her forehead kisses were back in National City. Copies folded and shoved into the pocket of her cardigan, Kara stumbled out into the bright morning sunshine. She glowered up at Sol. “Hurry up and do your thing.”

Kara glanced up and down the street. There were a few cabs, but each of the roof lights showed they had passengers. She didn’t want to wait outside. She didn’t want to _walk_ , either. Head down, Kara plodded along the sidewalk.

It was freezing in the shadows created by the skyscrapers comprising the downtown area. Kara pulled her cardigan tight around her. Noonan’s beckoned up the block. She couldn’t smell the dark, bitter aroma of their signature coffee or the sharp scent of sugar from her favorite cheese or fruit filled Danish. However, it was a haven. A place where Kara always felt welcomed and safe.

Coffee would warm her and soothe her throat. Kara’s steps quickened now that she had a destination in mind.

Sirens wailed and then moved closer. The ear-piercing shrieks echoed off the nearby buildings. The other pedestrians turned to watch the string of police cars, lights flashing, whiz by. Loud blasts detonated seconds later. The gawkers scattered, many ducked low to the ground.

More police cars flew by, followed closely by a CatCo news van.

Kara stared after it. Police cars and gunfire downtown. It was a situation for Supergirl. Except Supergirl was missing in action and suffering from the ignominy of the common cold. Giving up her plans for a comfortable seat in the back of Noonan’s, nursing a white chocolate mocha with extra whipped cream, Kara pushed her body into a jarring (and painfully slow) jog in the direction the police cars had gone.

Her chest ached, and Kara was sucking wind before she’d gone more than half a block. Antiope would _not_ be pleased. She had hounded Kara to keep up her fitness rather than rely on the gifts from Sol. She persevered, however, and tracked the flashing lights and sirens to a convenience store crammed between an Italian restaurant and an apartment building.

Glass littered the uneven paving in front of the store. A dozen black and white police cruisers blocked the street access. Cops in NCPD-stenciled flak jackets crouched behind the cars, armed with shotguns, rifles, or handguns.

She couldn’t see inside thanks to the crowd of onlookers and news crews. She carefully made her way through the throng until she found the CatCo crew. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Kara?” Elenor Porter, CatCo’s most popular field reporter, frowned. “Is something wrong? Are we not taking the story on-air?”

“Oh, no! I mean, I was just passing by.” Kara coughed. “Miss Grant was afraid I’d ‘infect the entire office.’”

Elenor rolled her eyes. “I bet. Looks like we’ve got a hostage situation. We’re about to go live.”

“I won’t keep you then. You don’t need me getting in the way.” Kara melted back into the crowd – and then grimly headed to a nearby alley. Nerves threatened to empty her stomach and her legs trembled. Hidden from view in the shadow-darkened alley, Kara removed and folded her “human” clothes before activating her boots, cowl, and cape.

Even properly suited up, an heroic entrance was out of the question. Kara _crept_ around the corner, hoping that no one noticed her walking onto the scene. She got a few steps closer to the store before the first shout rang out.

“Supergirl!”

More followed, and her skin crawled at the realization that she was now the focus of all the cops and news crews – without her powers.

Keeping her shoulders back and her pace stately, Kara made her way to the entrance of the convenience store. It was dark inside; she couldn’t make out individuals, only two vague shapes near the cash register.

Eyes trained there, she stepped inside.

“Don’t come any closer!” One of the shapes solidified into a man, one arm wrapped around the throat of a woman. The other hand held a gun to the hostage’s head.

Kara froze for an instant before she caught the hopeful expression on the woman’s face. People believed in Supergirl. In her. They didn’t know she couldn’t lift anything heavier than a bag of groceries at the moment. Planting her hands on her hips, she said, “You know that gun won’t do anything to me. Put it down.”

She held her pose even when the man didn’t move. “Put it down,” Kara repeated. “Let your hostage go. We’ll talk. This won’t help whatever situation you’re trying to solve.”

The gun wavered.

Maybe if Kara had been less concerned about the gun, the hostage, or her own less than bulletproof state, she would have seen the two other men hidden in the aisles of snack foods and automotive supplies.

Only her years as Antiope’s practice dummy saved her. Although, as she blocked the baseball bat aimed at her head, Kara wasn’t sure she would actually survive. Her right arm rose and met the bat with a sharp crack.

A crack that was _not_ the bat breaking from the impact. Kara had _never_ , not on Krypton or on Themyscira during the first loss of her superpowers, felt anything close to the burning agony as a result from protecting her head. She bit back a scream. It was imperative no one in the store realize she was at less than one hundred percent of her usual “super” self.

Kara let her right arm drop and lashed out with a booted foot. Her kick took the wind from Bat Man. She followed up with a picture-perfect left uppercut – and she was down to two assailants. One still held a gun, but it had dropped to his side while his hostage now huddled behind the counter.

Spinning as best she could to face the final assailant, Kara narrowed her eyes. “I can do this all day,” she lied. “Or we can walk out of here together, and I’ll tell the officers that you surrendered peacefully.” Kara slid a step forward. “Your choice.”

The man’s hands shot up.

Good. Good. Kara prayed to Rao none of them noticed the tears of pain in her eyes or how her right arm hung uselessly at her side. “Thanks for letting her go. I know you didn’t want to hurt anyone.” She reached out with her left hand. “Give me the gun and then we’ll go outside.”

The metal was cool against her fingers, the weapon surprisingly heavy in her hand.

Kara and the store employee led the parade into the glaring sun and freedom represented by an army of NCPD officers. She stayed quiet as the two men next to her were taken to their knees and handcuffed. In the maelstrom of blue-clad aggression and the roar of the police radios and shouted questions and epithets, Kara slipped away and to the safety of the alley.

Once her suit retracted, she painfully climbed back into her normal clothes. Every movement turned the bright day into a snowstorm of gray and black flecks edging her vision. Kara needed to get home, where she could soak up sunlight on her balcony after doing what she could to immobilize her arm.

She wasn’t going to waste time with walking or stopping at Noonan’s. Uber was next to Rao on Kara’s personal pantheon of deities.

The car would be a few minutes getting through the slowly dispersing crowd. Kara made her way to the curb, shoulders hunched to protect her arm from accidental battering. She leaned against a police car at the edge of the crime scene perimeter. The sun soaked into her bones. Without waking her powers, unfortunately.

Brakes screeched loudly, and Kara jumped. The CatCo van idled in front of her. “Get in,” Elenor shouted through the open passenger-side window. “We just got a call that the Feds and the Army stormed into Cat’s office.”

Her words galvanized Kara into action. The pain in her arm faded beneath a rush of adrenaline worse than the one that had pushed her into the convenience store. She clambered into the van, one foot propped against the dash as a counterbalance to Elenor’s NASCAR-worthy driving.

They joined a horde of other news vans and CatCo-branded vehicles returning to the building like worker bees to a hive. Unlike the rest of the reporters and cameramen running toward the main entrance, Kara led Elenor to her new Supergirl, out of the way, service entrance. The lock was perpetually unlocked thanks to the duct tape someone (probably a smoker, from the pile of butts on the ground) had slapped over the deadbolt.

The bonus? A rarely used service elevator sat only a few steps inside the door. Kara hit the button for Cat’s floor. She should have left Alex and her gun-toting friends alone. If anything happened to Cat or Snapper or even Lucy.

_Eliza cupped Kara’s chin. “We want you to be happy here, Kara. This is your home now.” She eyed Alex, standing staunchly at Kara’s shoulder. “You should know how dangerous it is for Kara to use her powers like that, Alexandra. What if someone had seen you flying?”_

_Alex stiffened even more, until Kara was afraid her human form might shatter from the tension. “No one saw us!”_

_“You don’t know that for sure.” While her hand on Kara’s chin remained gentle, her voice, when she addressed Alex, was clipped and hard. “They could take Kara away. Or they could arrest me or your father. You know the government has been after us for helping Superman. Actions have consequences, Alexandra.”_

Actions had consequences.

Kara had left the Danvers’ home only a week after she and Alex had gone flying. She hadn’t seen any adverse reaction to her decision to take her _zhor_ to see the stars up close (as close as Kara could get them).

She wasn’t so lucky now. Her choices had already placed her coworkers at risk. If the government followed up on Kara’s background, Diana and the rest of the Justice League were in danger. And, as Eliza had predicted so long ago, the Danvers as well.

They burst from the elevator the second it stopped. Kara fumbled one-handed with her phone, turning on the voice recorder and stashing it in her bra rather than her purse. Her cardigan hid the rectangular bulge.

Elenor had her microphone out and the mobile battery pack clipped to her belt.

The bullpen was on its collective feet. No one even glanced at Kara and Elenor as they dashed through the aisle to Cat’s office.

Kara zeroed in on a tall man in uniform standing toe to toe with Lucy Lane. Stars gleamed on his shoulders and thick stripes lined the sleeves of his jacket. “You’ll turn everything you have over to me, _Major_ , or I’ll bring you up on charges of treason and insubordination.”

His threat froze Kara in place. _Rao_ , she was a complete idiot. Every single copy of information Cat had asked her to write was all together in her purse. She couldn’t let the people hounding Cat and Lucy get them. Reaching into her pocket, Kara gripped the folded sheets. Frantically looking for _anyplace_ to hide them, she resumed her dash to Cat’s office.

There! The IT guy’s desk. There was an open lunch bag on his desk. Having a reputation as a klutz (it wasn’t an act), Kara pretended to stumble. Her cry of pain was real as her right arm banged into the sturdy metal desk. It was the perfect, if agonizing, cover as she transferred the papers into the soft-sided bag.

Her cry had alerted the crowd of uniforms and black-suited men and women to Kara’s existence. One of them touched the man talking to Lucy, and he turned to face Kara. “You! You’re the one who started this mess! Arrest her.”

“No, General. You won’t.” For all the commotion in her office, Cat was completely calm. Even a little amused, by the slight smile she wore. “You have no grounds, not even your precious Patriot Act, to be here. Let alone to threaten my Counsel, me, or my staff. Now, unless you want to be personally named when my lawyers start filing motions about this little visit, I suggest you take your Men in Black and get out!”

The general didn’t move. He stared intently at Kara who fought a shudder. There was something _hungry_ in his gaze. Something that screamed for her to run.

She stood her ground with all the arrogance and grace of Queen Hippolyta.

He didn’t like that at all. “Search her!”

Two of the black-clad people crammed against the wall hurried toward Kara. One of them grabbed her purse, and the other patted her down. She bit her lip until she drew blood but couldn’t restrain a whimper when Goon Two patted down her right arm.

“Are you hurt, Miss Zor-El?” Oily pleasure slicked the general’s question.

“Banged my funny bone on a desk,” Kara lied while trying not to yank her arm away from the agent frisking her.

It was clear from the frightening light in his eyes that the general didn’t believe her. “Danvers! You’re a doctor. Make sure it’s not more serious than a bruise.”

Danvers?

The name echoed and echoed on a loop in Kara’s ears as Alex, dressed in a sharp black pantsuit and starched white blouse, stepped from among the rest of the similarly clad agents. A badge with FBI credentials hung from her jacket lapel, and the bulge of a gun sat at her hip.

This wasn’t a federal raid based on the Patriot Act. This was the DEO using the Army as muscle to hide their existence.

Alex, her Alex, stopped and glanced at Kara without touching her. “Miss Zor-El?”

Caught between hiding her arm behind her back like a child and letting Alex know that she was vulnerable and truly injured, Kara reluctantly nodded her consent.

Alex’s hands were incredibly gentle as she pressed her fingers to Kara’s arm over the cardigan.

_“It’s so cute!” Kara wiggled, wanting to touch the furry animal, the **puppy** , in Alex’s arms. _

_Alex rolled her eyes, but her smile was as wide as Kara’s. “You have to be gentle, though.” She shifted the puppy to the cradle of a single arm and took Kara’s hand in hers. “Like this.” At first Kara thought Alex was teasing her. She didn’t feel anything._

_Then she looked at their joined hands as the puppy’s fur lightly tickled her fingers. They were stroking the fur so softly that it barely ruffled it._

_A sharp bark and a thrashing tail said the puppy approved._

_Kara’s heart melted. “Oh, Alex!”_

_“I know. I’ve always wanted a puppy.” A little of Alex’s joy dimmed. “Mom says I’m not responsible enough yet, and, well, pets are expensive.” She looked away from Kara as she whispered the last._

_“I’m sorry_. _” The Danvers never blamed her, but Kara wasn’t stupid. Jeremiah was away from home more often since she’d arrived, taking on additional consulting jobs. The family also had to make multiple shopping trips to keep Kara fed. Eliza often went to cities or towns several hours away to keep anyone in Midvale from questioning the sudden, drastic increase in their grocery needs._

_“Don’t worry, Kar. Mr. Russel said we could visit Champ as often as we want.” Alex raised the puppy to Kara’s face, letting the excitable dog lick all over Kara’s cheeks._

Kara swore she disguised her flinch when Alex pressed on the place the bat landed, but Alex froze. She pushed up Kara’s cardigan until the bruised, swollen area was on display. “It looks like Miss Zor-El might want this x-rayed, General.” Alex’s voice was so different from the one in her memory that Kara couldn’t make sense of the dissonance.

“That must have been some desk, Miss Zor-El.” The general waved Alex back into position, and Kara wanted to grab her and hold on. She needed Alex and the unwavering protection she remembered from her short time with the Danvers as he smiled. A shark’s smile filled with teeth and paired with the chilling lack of humanity in his gaze. “I’ll have one of my people drive you to National City General.”

“No, thank you. Agent Danvers was mistaken. It’s nothing more than a bump and a bruise.” Kara yanked the cardigan down and took a position at the corner of Cat’s desk.

Lucy stepped between them. “If you have nothing more, General, we’re done here. Security will escort you from the building.” Her voice was confident; however, Kara’s vantage point showed the sweat dampening the fine wisps of hair at the back of Lucy’s neck. Her shirt collar, too, bore a dark strip.

The general’s face darkened, and the officer at his side scowled. “General, we can still arrest them. The Act gives us…”

“Try. It.” Cat stood, and her sheer presence blanketed the room. Even in her stilettos, the general topped her by at least an inch, yet his authority crumbled. “I know where all the bodies on the Hill are buried, General. I’ll have every member of Congress, from Moscow Mitch to your buddies on the Armed Services Committee, willing to scuttle your career with one phone call.” She brandished her cellphone and raised a single finger. “One. Two.”

“We’ll be back,” the general snarled. “That story will never see the light of day.” He stalked from the room with his team hard on his heels.

Kara sucked in a harsh breath and saw Lucy’s shoulders slump wearily.

“Damn. I was hoping your father would try to call my bluff.” Cat actually _laughed_. “Good job, Lane. You validated my decision to hire you with that family reunion.” Settling behind her desk like Queen Hippolyta on her throne, Cat steepled her fingers. “Snapper, break the story early. Start with Asia. It will lessen the full impact, but Lane and his boys won’t be able to order a retraction in China. Put it in every bulldog edition we can get to here in the States. I don’t care how small the circulation.”

He was moving before she finished rapping out orders.

“You!” Kara thought Cat was addressing Lucy again until a hand caught the hem of her cardigan. “I don’t remember asking you or my best field reporter to my office. _You_ are _sick_ , and CatCo employees do _not_ come to the office spewing germs. Out!” She eyed Elenor. “Make sure Zor-El doesn’t get lost on the way to the Emergency Room. Have that scratch checked out before she tries to sue me for having dangerous equipment in the bullpen.”

“Sure thing, boss.” Elenor didn’t appear phased by anything that had happened. “I wish like hell I had video of that standoff. They didn’t bother to search _me_ ,” she lamented. “Can you imagine if that leaked to the news channels? I’d be up for a Peabody.”

Kara followed her out, stopping to retrieve the pages she’d stuffed into the lunch bag. “How about an audio recording?” She managed a weak grin at Elenor’s wide eyed expression. “Uh…you’ll have to fish it out of my bra. I don’t think I can get it out, what with this scratch and everything.”

“I hope Ken the Security Guard gets his jollies from seeing this on the monitors.” Elenor backed them into a corner near the elevator they’d ridden on the way to Cat’s office. In seconds, she held Kara’s phone and started the recording from the beginning.

 _“You’ll turn everything you have over to me, **Major**_ …”

“Gotcha!” Elenor did a little dance. “I want to kiss you right now, you know that?” Then she turned and waved at the security camera. “Ken’s already had as much of a show as I plan to give him. Come on. The boss said to take you to the ER, and that’s where we’re going. I’ll come back and start on winning that Peabody afterward.”

Cradling her arm against her side, Kara followed Elenor into the service elevator. “It’s all about you, isn’t it, Porter? You’d leave me bleeding and near death if it meant getting the story.”

“I didn’t get to be the boss’ favorite field reporter by playing nice.” The doors slid open and Elenor led Kara back outside through the security door. “I’m going to dump you at the ER doors, and…”

A sharp _crack_ cut the air, and Elenor toppled to the ground in slow motion.

Kara glimpsed blood pooling beneath Elenor’s body right before a dart lodged into her shoulder. Another pierced her thigh. The world spun in a dizzying kaleidoscope of dark and light.

Dark won.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the change in tags. 
> 
> TW for canon-typical violence. 
> 
> Thanks to chupeydupey for making sure I don't get too lost in my own head and run screaming into the night.

Light. Bright. Hot.

Kara flinched from the encompassing brightness and shut her eyes. They flew open again almost immediately as hard hands gripped her arms. A cry wrenched from her throat when one of them closed tightly on her injured arm.

“You think _that_ hurts?” a voice whispered in her ear. She thought she recognized it…him. “Wait until the docs at Cadmus get ahold of you. You’ll be screaming and begging in no time.”

Not in her lifetime. Deliberately sagging against her abductor, Kara also dragged her feet. It slowed his progress a little. More importantly, it allowed her to get her left foot behind his – and wrap her leg around his thigh.

He cursed and attempted to manhandle her into a different hold. Kara tightened her leg, preventing him from hauling her higher against his chest. “Bitch!”

Any thrill at her success ended when a new hand slammed into her cheek. The surprise and the unexpected pain ended Kara’s bid for a possible escape. “Stop playing around. Get her on the table. We can’t waste time. If she regains her powers before we dose her, Lane’ll have our asses.” The new man grabbed Kara’s legs.

In seconds, she lay on a cold, flat surface. “I can’t wait to see what this does.” Kara managed to blink away the tears and peer through the blinding light. Harper. The general’s aide from Cat’s office. He caught her look and smirked. Holding her gaze, he yanked up the cardigan sleeve and the tight white material of her suit that covered her right arm. “Do it.”

Kara barely glimpsed the second man. She was frozen by the hate and anticipation in Harper’s eyes. She grunted as a needle pierced the skin on her exposed arm. There was a dull, uncomfortable pressure.

A scream ripped from her throat as “uncomfortable” turned into a wildfire burning beneath her skin. Kara fought the hands on her without feeling the usual pain in her arm. It was such a small hurt buried beneath sheets of torment.

She couldn’t breathe or think around the inferno blazing through body.

Words. Faces. Places. The world and everything in it were simple backdrops to Kara’s suffering. She lived and breathed only pain. Unable to muster the strength to resist, she dangled helplessly as Harper and the other man removed her from the table and shoved her into metal box.

It was so small that Kara had to curl into the fetal position. The top slammed shut.

Then it began to move. The motion added to the still smoldering fire in her veins caused Kara’s stomach to churn. Her skin turned cold. _Rao, no._

Rao was not there in her tiny, moving prison.

Kara vomited; the harsh muscle spasms racking her body multiplying her misery.

She must have lost consciousness. The box no longer moved when Kara jerked awake. The fire in her veins had faded to a tingling itch. A rumble filled her ears and vibrated the surface beneath her box.

It was dark.

So dark.

Dark like her pod had been. Darker, since there were no stars to light the box.

Kara closed her eyes. She wasn’t in the Phantom Zone. No matter what horror awaited her at Cadmus, she wasn’t trapped outside of time, floating and alone.

The reminder wasn’t enough. Kara whimpered as the walls of the box encroached. She sucked in a breath laden with strange chemicals and the taint of her own earlier sickness. Her stomach rolled, and she did her best to hold still and breathe in slow sips.

It helped this time. Enough for Kara to relax and reach out her left hand, searching for a way out. The box was smooth and hard. There were no noticeable seams or bolts. Nothing for her to manipulate.

Not even holes to allow for air flow.

Kara couldn’t prevent another scream, this one of rage and fear. She pounded on the box. She had to get out. She couldn’t stay in the box another second. Her hands and feet landed against the smooth walls over and over.

She was so desperate for escape that she didn’t notice the floor had stopped rumbling. Kara didn’t hear the sound of gunfire somewhere nearby.

“Hey! Hey, Kara! It’s Lucy,” a voice called. “Hey! I’ve almost got this thing open. Hang on a little longer.”

Hugging her knees tighter, Kara rocked as much as her prison allowed. She couldn’t let the voices start this quickly now. Not like all those years in the pod. She had to stay strong. She began one of the longest and most complicated prayers to Rao she remembered, “ _Blessed Rao, Father of All and Giver of Light.”_

Light. Kara faltered, drowning in the darkness. It was so dark and cold. She shivered, body banging into the box with each convulsive shudder. Her teeth clacked together as she tried to spit the words of the prayer out. “ _Bring your peace…your peace and kindness on all Your children as they gather before You. In this time and in this place, set Your hand upon…_ ” Wait. That wasn’t right.

Frustration and grief sprang to life under the swells of fear. She couldn’t remember any more. Words that had been as familiar as her own name when she’d been a child, gone.

A sob echoed in the silence surrounding her.

“Kara? We’ve almost got it open. Why don’t you talk to me until then? Tell me some things you like to do,” Imaginary Lucy said.

Why not? Kara couldn’t survive another Phantom Zone. What did it matter if she gave in to the imaginary people? She couldn’t live without sunlight and air and people. Closing her eyes despite the already soulless dark, she answered, “Flying.” Rao, she loved to fly. Earth was so beautiful. When Kara was in the air, she could see so much green, so many growing things, and people.

“I always wanted to do that.” Lucy’s laugh teased a smile from Kara. “I’d spend all my time hiding above the clouds, away from all the shit going on down here.” The box shifted, and Kara heard Lucy grunt. “Jesus! Whoever built this thing needs their ass kicked. Good thing…I’m stronger…than I look.”

Something banged over Kara’s head. Once. Twice. Metal screeched against metal.

“Got it!” Lucy called, and then air and light replaced the stifling darkness. “Told you I’d get it.” She grinned down at Kara. “Come on.” Her voice was softer now, as if finally realizing that Kara wasn’t whooping with joy. “Take my hand, Kara.”

Lucy’s hand was warm and strong. Stronger than Kara felt as she crept from the box. Her legs shook until Lucy and another figure, dressed entirely in black leather with a black visored helmet obscuring any facial features, wrapped their arms around Kara and helped her walk the long expanse of the tractor-trailer where she’d been imprisoned.

Dim light and stars glimmered. Was this Rao’s holy passage? Kara steps faltered. Would she see her mother and father soon? “ _Ieiu? Ukr?_ ”

Lucy’s partner turned and managed to catch Kara as her legs gave out.

_“What has happened to the child?” Hands ran over Kara’s torso, fingers taking special interest in her ribs and abdomen. “Look at her, your Highness! She is skin stretched over bone.”_

Kara’s head rested against a warm body, and a heart race under her ear.

“I know we shouldn’t bring her there, but we have to do something! This whole plan’s FUBAR’d. I’m calling an audible. Get me a bird ASAP!” Lucy wasn’t happy. Kara couldn’t properly see her any longer; however, her voice was tight and clipped.

There was suddenly another voice above Kara. It was softer and muffled by helmet and visor so that Kara couldn’t quite make out all the words. “…can’t…back…” Each word vibrated the chest she rested against.

“I’m taking her to the desert base.”

The quiet voice rose. “No! It’s too soon!”

“Belay that, God damn it!” Lucy snarled. “I still want that bird and a clear flight path.”

Past and present continued to intertwine as Kara plunged into a fevered dream.

_“We are lucky that I saw her, then.” Even on the verge of sleep, Kara recognized Diana’s voice. The probing hand moved away, and another stroked her arm. “I am here, **mikrós ílios**. Epione will take good care of you.”_

_Kara woke fully at that. “Don’t leave me! Please,” she begged. She didn’t want to be alone again. Diana was the first friend she’d made since…since Alex._

_A husky laugh soothed her fears. “No, little sister, I will not leave. However, I am not a healer. Epione is my mother’s chief healer. She says you are not well; I trust her to make sure you are strong and healthy before I take you home, Kara. That is all. I will be here with you the whole time. I promise.”_

“Take…home…promise,” Kara echoed Diana.

“Home,” the person holding Kara said. “I promise.” The arms around her tightened. “Make it happen.”

Lucy didn’t sound angry anymore, only tired. “She’s not safe there.”

“ _Make_ her safe.”

Kara liked that voice. It reminded her of General Antiope. _So there!_ she mentally mocked Lucy.

“It’s a good thing I like you,” Lucy said. “Get her ready. The bird’s two minutes out. I need to make another call.”

Footstep sounded as Lucy resumed talking, but her voice grew soft and far away.

The world slowed and quieted. The person holding Kara propped her on one of the two motorcycles parked alongside the rode but kept Kara sheltered with arms and chest. The sleepy chirps of birds and the soothing sounds of insects lulled her into a peaceful trance.

A rhythmic beating sound woke her. A bright light beamed down from the sky. The arms bracketing her slipped under her knees and around her shoulders, lifting Kara from the motorcycle.

Wind whipped around them as the person carrying Kara ducked a helmeted head closer to Kara’s, shielding her from dust and debris.

“Get her onboard!” Lucy, crouched low under the whirling rotors of the landing helicopter, waved an arm at her partner. “Cadmus is on the move. You’re going to have company here any minute.”

Kara rose and fell as the person holding her shrugged. Whoever Lucy’s partner was, they weren’t scared of Cadmus. Kara was. Kara would have thrown herself into the helicopter if she could in order to avoid another taste of the drug and the box.

In seconds, Kara was carefully buckled into a seat. Lucy scrambled into the seat next to her.

The person who’d held and carried Kara hesitated. Kara could feel the stare through the tinted visor. One hand reached out, gloved fingers cupping Kara’s chin.

“We need to go.” Lucy’s voice was urgent yet lacked the bite from earlier.

With a sharp nod and one last long glance, the hand disappeared, and Lucy’s partner jumped from the helicopter.

“Go! Go! Go!” Nothing except command now, as Lucy whirled a hand in the air.

The helicopter lifted from the ground. Headlights raced toward their position. Kara heard the sharp rapport of gunfire until they faded in the distance.

***

Sunlight warmed Kara’s face and cool sheets brushed her skin. She sighed, stretched, and groaned. Rao, everything still hurt.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” Kara’s eyes snapped open. Lucy Lane perched on the edge of the bed. Kara’s bed.

“I’m home!” How had she gotten here? The night before was fuzzy. Nightmare and reality playing tag in her memory.

Lucy laughed. “You made my partner promise. Do you know how hard it is to arrange permission to land a helicopter on a building in National City? You’re lucky Cat has a soft spot for you. We landed at CatCo; she had a car and a private security company waiting for us.”

Security. It was laughable. Kara, when not crippled by her own stupidity and overuse of her powers, was the strongest individual on the planet. Yet she was surprised and touched by the lengths that Lucy and her band of motorcycle riding, helicopter flying friends and Cat Grant had gone to save her.

She tried to put all of that into words. “Lucy, I…thank you,” she whispered through a closed throat. The back of her eyes burned, and Kara held statue still in the hope the tears wouldn’t fall.

“Hey, I’m in your corner.” Moving closer, she gripped Kara’s hands. “You’re almost family, if that idiot cousin of yours ever makes an honest woman out of my sister.” Lucy didn’t allow Kara to pull away. “The General is an ass, and I hope that article and the tape put him deep in the bowels of Leavenworth.”

“It went to press, then?” Kara let the warmth of the sun pull her back toward sleep for a minute. “Wait! What tape? What about Elenor? Harper’s goons shot her!”

Lucy’s head tilted to one side. “The one you made of the meeting in Cat’s office. We found it in Elenor’s purse.”

_“I’m going to dump you at the ER doors…” Elenor stopped talking._

_Kara saw blood blossom on Elenor’s blouse and jacket. The other woman’s eyes, always so lively, stared vacantly ahead as she dropped to the ground._

**_Run!_ ** _Kara’s mind screamed, but her legs wouldn’t move. Her feet were frozen to the ground. She jerked at a sharp prick of pain in her shoulder and thigh._

_Everything became weirdly light then dark. Fuzzy then clear._

_She saw…boots. Heavy and polished. Greens and browns and blacks. Hands. So many hands and voices._

Voices. Loud, angry voices outside the apartment. Kara swung her legs out of the bed as Lucy smoothly hopped to her feet and grabbed a gun from the nightstand that Kara hadn’t noticed before.

“Kara?” Shit! Cleo was outside.

Kara had never called Diana after her fight with the robot. Paired with the article about the gang hunting Supergirl, and Cleo might only be the _first_ of the Royal Guard at Kara’s door. “Put the gun away, and call off Cat’s security team,” she ordered, already pushing her body to move faster. “Hang on. I’m coming!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to two awesome people for making this fic so much better than I do: Chupeydupey who catches those pesky typos and changes in verb tense and Alpha Zulu 2.0 who kicks Google Translate to the curb and makes Amazonian Greek come to life!

Cleo didn’t t hang on.

There were more shouts and a few grunts then heavier thuds. Seconds later, Kara’s apartment door slammed open, the doorknob lodging firmly into the drywall from the force.

“Kara!” Daggers in each hand, Cleo scanned the room – and found Lucy, gun trained at her and finger on the trigger.

Despite the effort required to move, Kara planted herself between them. “Put the weapons down! Both of you!”

The daggers disappeared. Cleo bowed her head in deference. “ _Nai, Ypsilotáti_.”

Lucy was far less obedient. “Get out of the way, Kara.” No wonder she’d risen to the rank of Major. If Kara had been less irritated (or well trained in command), Lucy would have had a clear shot at Cleo.

“No.” She turned to fully face Lucy. “Cleo is an old family friend. Put the gun down. She isn’t here to hurt me.” Kara held Lucy’s gaze, willing the other woman to listen. Slowly, one unwilling inch at a time, the gun lowered until it rested against Lucy’s thigh. “Thank you.”

Now that a throwdown was momentarily off the table, all of Kara’s energy drained away. She staggered to the couch and flopped down. “What are you doing here?”

“ _I Prinkípissa Diana anisychoúse, kalí mou. Eísai tycherí pou móno egó ímoun arketá kontá kaí éftasa edó prin apó ekeíni gia na do an eísai kalá_.”

“Fuck!” Diana was going to kill her for not calling her back. She wasn’t going to care that Cat had demanded her presence. Kara could have called or texted on the way to CatCo. “I’m sorry Diana had to send you to check on me.”

Cleo’s grin was filled with mischief…and a bit of affectionate malice. “She will be here soon enough. You had us all worried, **_mikré ílie._** ”

“Want to fill me in?” Lucy hadn’t holstered her weapon. She remained poised for action.

Rao, the last twenty-four hours had been a disaster. All Kara wanted to do was either get her powers back or curl up in a ball and sleep until the embers of the drug left her system and the bruises and (probably) broken arm healed. “Lucy, this is Cleo. She and I grew up together. My sister sent her because I forgot to call her back after I left a crater in that parking lot.”

The comment made it clear that everyone in the room knew Kara was Supergirl.

“Cleo, meet Lucy. She works with me at CatCo.” There was absolutely no way that Kara wanted to tell Cleo (or, Rao forbid, Diana) how close she’d come to being a Cadmus victim.

“Since when do reporters carry guns, Kara?”

Kara gave in and closed her eyes. Her life had become a train wreck, and her engine was headed for a cliff.

“I’m not a reporter,” Lucy answered. “I’m a lawyer. Former Army Judge Advocate General.”

The silence that followed grew so heavy that Kara started to sit up and open her eyes. “How were you able to free Kara from her kidnappers?”

So much for hiding _that_ bit of information from Diana.

“I have a few friends with the right skills,” Lucy responded.

Cleo chuckled. “ _Mou arései, Kara. An den ítan tóso mikrokamoméni, tha mporoúse na gínei exairetikí Amazóna_.” Then she switched to English. “You have my thanks. Kara is well-loved and precious to many.”

“Is she now?” Kara’s eyes snapped open at Lucy’s livid tone. “I heard she was engaged.”

“What?” How did Lucy know that? Kara pushed off the couch without thinking and whimpered as her arm reminded her of that convenience store bat.

“Sit down!” Two voices chimed together.

Pouting, Kara slumped back onto the couch. “Fine.” She crossed her arms and glared at Cleo and Lucy. If she had to sit, she wasn’t going to become the center of their attentions. It was time to break up the new Kara-sitters Club. “Cleo, see if you can pry the door out of the wall and close it. I’m sure my landlord,” Diana, but Kara wasn’t admitting that just yet, “is already upset over all the bodyguards you left littering the hallway.”

“They were not very good,” Cleo said.

_Scrambling up the rocky hill, Kara searched for a hiding place. “Hurry up!” she whispered urgently at Cleo. “Antiope’s right behind us.” She could hear horses without using any of her super senses._

_A rock shifted under her foot. She bit back a curse, thankful that her skin was impervious to cuts and scrapes. Kara finally crested the hill. Cleo was a step behind as they sprinted toward the hidden cave that they’d discovered the week before. The perfect place to hide and celebrate their victory._

_Cleo’s breathless laughter spurred Kara on. They squeezed into the narrow entrance shoulder to shoulder. “I can’t believe it worked!” She cradled the Bow of Athena they’d…borrowed from the Goddess’ Temple. “Only the best soldiers guard the Temple!”_

_“They didn’t seem to be that good.”_

“Let’s hope Cat isn’t as mad as…as your boss was about you pointing out their lack of skill,” Kara muttered. She met Cleo’s gaze, and her frustration fled in the face of that memory. Cleo must have remembered, too, and they burst into laughter.

“Want to share the funny?” Lucy scowled at them. “Because _I’m_ the one who’ll be doing damage control with the Queen and whatever minion hired those guys in the hallway.” Most of her glare seemed locked onto Cleo.

Kara tilted her head at the door and raised an eyebrow at Cleo. The other woman nodded in understanding. This was Kara’s mess to clean up. “I’ll talk to Cat. It’s not your fault my sister had a freak out and sent Cleo to rescue me.”

“Ah.” Lucy slowly smiled, losing her antagonistic posture. “You’re in big trouble, aren’t you?”

Ignoring Cleo’s snicker from the doorway, Kara shrugged. “I’ve been there before.”

“It will be more than harsh words if Prin…if Diana finds you in this condition, sweetheart.” Cleo yanked the doorknob free and carefully closed and locked the door. “Have you no healers in this sty of a city?”

“None I could trust.” Lucy grinned faintly when Kara pointed a finger at her for the interruption. “Cat’s working on it. I’m a fair hand at emergency field medicine. The only real injury I could find was the arm, and you crashed the party before I could do more than get Kara into bed.”

Cleo strode to Kara. “Then we shall take care of that now.” Without so much as a by your leave, she scooped Kara off the couch and carried her toward the master bedroom. “We can’t wait for Diana to arrive.”

Kara, ready to protest and assert her independence, pressed her lips together.

_“I am extremely disappointed in you, Kara.” Standing next to General Antiope, Diana seemed wrapped in authority. Her stare pressed down on Kara until she hunched her shoulders beneath the weight of it. “You stole one of our most holy relics, a gift to the Queen from our Patron, the Goddess Athena.”_

She’d never forgotten that conversation, and she’d vowed to _never_ disappoint Diana again. It hadn’t been a realistic goal. Kara was a normal child with a normal love of naughty behavior and of pushing limits. However, her recent actions (many of which were far more serious than missing a check-in call) would certainly earn her well-deserved censure.

Her stomach knotted.

“Oh, for Athena’s sake…” Cleo deposited Kara gently on the bed. “Our Crown

Princess is not an ogre.” She slipped the grimy cardigan from Kara’s shoulders before unbuttoning the shirt beneath. “She is simply worried, Kara. We all were, especially when the news was filled with your kidnapping and the death of the reporter.”

“Elenor’s dead?” She’d known but hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it. Turning her head, Kara leaned into Cleo. A kiss pressed into the top of her head, and arms tightened around her. Comfort. Home. Acceptance. Tears burned and demanded an outlet, but Kara resisted. This, all of it, was her fault.

“Stop! You are not the one to blame _,_ ” Cleo whispered. “It is the people tracking you. This General Lane and his soldiers.”

Was it? If Kara had let Alex’s plane crash, if she’d never donned The Suit, would any of it have happened? Had the Danvers been right all along?

The bed dipped on Kara’s other side. “Your…friend’s right, Kara. It’s not your fault. Cadmus and my…the general have been hunting aliens long before you became Supergirl. They’ve been after Superman for years.”

Yet they’d never managed to catch Clark or kill any of his friends or family. Kara knew she was faster and stronger, that she’d been far better trained in strategy and fighting than Clark.

Cadmus had a new weapon now, though. One that gave them unparalleled insight into Kara’s physiology and abilities.

Alex. Agent Danvers. Bitterness and betrayal burned hotter than Krypton’s lost Fire Falls in Kara’s heart.

“They knew I blew out my powers. That’s why General Lane kept staring at me in Cat’s office.” Like she was the biggest piece of birthday cake at a party. Had they sent that robot after her with the intent to weaken her? Or had that been a bonus when it had failed to kill her?

“All that knowledge won’t do them much good for a while,” Lucy said softly. “The general’s been removed from command, pending an Article 32 hearing. Congress is already scheduling their own hearing into his actions and the existence and actions of the DEO and Cadmus.”

Kara opened her eyes and reached for Lucy’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

Lucy’s shrug aimed for casual and failed. “Dad made his choices a long time ago.”

“I guess Alex did, too.”

The hand under Kara’s tightened into a fist. “The truth will come out soon. All the horrible things done because people like my dad are afraid of anything different than they are.” Lucy pulled away. “I’ll give you and Cleo some time to catch up.” She stood, posture rigid and gaze averted. “Just…just call out if you need anything.”

The bedroom door closed with a thump behind her as she left.

Silence filled the room. It pressed at Kara. On her shoulders. Her chest. Every part of her felt wrapped in tightening chains.

“Do you remember when I first joined the Royal Guard?” Cleo went back to unbuttoning Kara’s shirt. She finally pushed it and the cardigan off, tossing them with unerring accuracy into the hamper near the closet.

“Not really.” Kara had been working for Diana as an art conservator and beginning to dabble in photography at the time. It had been the first time she’d been off the island since Diana had rescued her in Coast City. “I was a shitty friend back then.” The gentle brush of Cleo’s fingers soothed her, reminded her of their childhood, as they’d learned to fasten each other’s leather cuirasses, spaulders, and bracers.

Pressing Kara back into the pillows, Cleo went to work on removing Kara’s pants. “You were busy with Princess Diana.” Cleo didn’t seem upset by Kara’s neglect. “We were taking part in a training exercise several weeks after you and Diana headed to the mainland. The Temple Guards, the Royal Guards, and the Cavalry. General Antiope placed me in charge of a squad filled with some of the most experienced fighters.” Pants in the hamper, Cleo scowled at the white bodysuit before finally locating the well-disguised zipper. “I took the squad down the cliff face by the Statue of Zeus.”

“Did you magically sprout wings?” The cliff was made of slick granite at a terrifying angle.

Cleo shook her head. “We made the descent with nothing more than Amazon spirit and my determination to win.” Her voice wavered then hardened. “Chara slipped halfway down.”

Kara reached for Cleo’s hand instinctively.

“I caught her arm but couldn’t maintain my own position on the rocks, too.” Cleo pulled away and carefully hung the body suit in Kara’s closet. Leaving her back to Kara, she resumed speaking. “I let her fall to save myself. My choices, my _arrogance_ , lost us one of Antiope’s oldest companions and one of the kindest souls on the island. I made the decision to use the cliff. I steamrolled over all the arguments my squad laid out for me because I wanted to win a stupid war game.

“What you did, Kara? It’s not the same. Your choice was to save people using the gift your Father Rao granted. The threat to Diana and our way of life. To you. That choice belongs to the people in the news. They chose hate and death.”

“It…I…” Kara floundered.

Cleo turned around, eyes glassy until she blinked and her usual grin firmly in place. “Just think about it, _mikré ílie._ For now, we need to clean you up and take care of your arm.” She headed for the bathroom. “I should call Her Highness and ask her to send Epione. You would find yourself on bedrest until your powers returned.”

Kara heard water running and Cleo rummaging in the vanity cabinets. “You break it, you buy it,” she called out.

“I believe you still owe me a new spear to replace the one you crushed with your mighty hand.” Cleo emerged carrying a small plastic basin with water and several washcloths and hand towels. She set the basin on Kara’s nightstand. “I’ve been waiting on that spear since we were first-year trainees with the Guard.”

“It’s not my fault you had the weakest spear on the island!” Kara pouted; she hadn’t meant to break the spear in half when she’d borrowed it. Her control over her powers back then had been sporadic at best (and non-existent the rest of the time). “Besides, I arranged your first date with Tekli because you turned into a mime whenever she was around. That’s payment enough.”

Cleo ran a warm, wet washcloth over Kara’s arms and hands. “She was pretty, wasn’t she?”

“Was?”

“The years have been kind,” Cleo answered. Her grin softened. “She wanted to come with me. Even threatened to stake me across the altar as an offering during Aphrodisia if I left her behind. She’ll forgive me when I tell her my quick departure was the result of a royal command.”

The soft touch of the cloth felt amazing. Kara melted into the mattress. “I love your wife. She’s so patient. I don’t know how she’s put up with you this long.”

“We love you right back, my Princess.” Cleo covered Kara with the comforter. “Rest. Everything will be better when you wake. I promise. I’ll keep you safe; it’s my pleasure and my duty.”

_Kara slowly woke. It was dark. Only pinpricks of light broke the oppressive black around her. Where was the **girehn** Mother always left on?_ _Rubbing at her eyes, she tried to sit up – and couldn’t!_

_“ **Ieiu**!” she screamed. The sound didn’t summon Alura or Kelex. Kara thrashed against the straps binding her to the…bed? No. Not her bed. The pilot’s seat in her pod. A little of her panic eased; she hung, panting, for several minutes, gazing at the stars outside the clear cockpit. _

_Another light drew her attention away, though. One of the indicators on the onboard display blinked a somber red. “Please identify the current system error,” Kara told the pod’s artificial intelligence._

_The AI didn’t respond. Kara reached for the holographic display, inputting the manual override code. She’d been warned **never** to pilot without the AI, but no one had ever mentioned that the system would stop working. Luckily, she’d studied the schematics for one of her mechanical engineering courses._

_It took seconds to trace the cause of the blinking light. How could **all** of the navigation and propulsion systems be unavailable? Kara glanced out the cockpit and then searched the star charts for this area of space._

_A three-dimensional display popped up, along with a series of facts about the Phantom Zone. Kara didn’t need the facts. Her mother was the Senior Adjudicator for the High Council. Kara knew more about the Phantom Zone than any other child in her cohort._

_She couldn’t be trapped there! The Zone was light-years away from the coordinates for Earth. “No!” Kara screamed. Nonononono!_

“No!”

Jerking awake, Kara reached automatically for Cleo. “Kara? What’s wrong?”

Kara shook her head. She didn’t know. Not yet.

“They killed the general!” Lucy. That was Lucy’s voice in the living room. Kara slid out of bed and Cleo followed. “Listen to me for once, damn it! I don’t care about the mission. Not anymore. Don’t you get it? Dad’s dead. So is Harper.”

The general was dead? Kara fumbled to open the bedroom door in her haste. She and Cleo stumbled into the hallway in a tangle of limbs.

The living room blazed with light despite the late hour. Lucy stood in front of the television, broken glass at her feet. She stared at the screen where a CatCo Breaking News banner scrolled a constant feed. “Do you hear me? God fucking damn it!”

Whoever was on the line must have responded. Lucy calmed a little as she listened.

“I’m sending a team to your location.” Lucy gestured frantically at Kara and Cleo until Cleo offered up her cellphone. Pinning her own phone between her ear and her shoulder, she texted frantically on Cleo’s. “Stay the fuck alive. Vas says Alpha Team can be there in thirty minutes. Less, if we scramble a bird.”

Her jaw tightened and even without her powers, Kara heard the voice (if not the words) spewing from the other end of the conversation.

“So help me God I will kill you myself if you don’t shut up and follow orders! This is my fucking op and I’m ordering you to evac,” Lucy snarled. Her eyes narrowed. “What was that? Are you there?” Lucy’s fingers pounded the screen of Cleo’s phone with the force of her texting. “Answer me, damn it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very special thank you to Alpha Zulu 2.0 over at ff.net for helping with accurate translations of the Greek used by Diana, Cleo, and Kara! I've included notes for all the translations in this chapter below and will be updating previous chapters in my spare time. 
> 
> For those of you who might be interested, the notes are listed as: transliterated Greek - English phrases (actual Greek)
> 
> Nai, Ypsilotáti - Yes, Your Highness (Ναι, Υψηλοτάτη)  
> I Prinkípissa Diana anisychoúse, kalí mou. Eísai tycherí pou móno egó ímoun arketá kontá kaí éftasa edó prin apó ekeíni gia na do an eísai kalá - Princess Diana was worried, my dear. You are lucky that only I was close enough and got here before before her to check if you are okay (Η Πριγκίπισσα Ντιάνα ανησυχούσε, καλή μου. Είσαι τυχερή που μόνο εγώ ήμουν αρκετά κοντά και έφτασα εδώ πριν από εκείνη για να δω αν είσαι καλά)  
> mikré ílie - little sun (Μικρός Ήλιος)  
> Mou arései, Kara. An den ítan tóso mikrokamoméni, tha mporoúse na gínei exairetikí Amazóna - I like her, Kara. If she weren’t so small, she could be an excellent Amazon (Μου αρέσει, Κάρα. Αν δεν ήταν τόσο μικροκαμωμένη, θα μπορούσε να γίνει εξαιρετική Αμαζόνα
> 
> Kryptonese translations:  
> girehn - lamp (used here to imply a child's night light)  
> Ieiu - Mom/Mother


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More thanks to chupeydupey! Without her, you'd be stuck with a million typos and sentence fragments.

Lucy didn’t wait long for an answer. She punched a button on Cleo’s phone and was speaking almost immediately. “We have a breach. Threat Level Delta. Get Alpha and Bravo to the previous location.”

The woman rapping orders was the same one who’d pulled her from the box. Lucy’s presence filled the living room – so did her fear. It jangled Kara’s nerves until she restrained the urge to grab Cleo’s phone and demand details from the person on the other end of the call.

While Kara grappled with the need for violence, Lucy went back to her original call. “Sitrep!” Eyes narrowing, Lucy pressed the phone closer to her ear.

Those eyes were still enraged slits when they met Kara’s a second later. She straightened automatically, coming to stiff attention as if General Antiope or Queen Hippolyta had entered the room.

“Cadmus, or the Army is cleaning up,” Lucy said. Urgency bled through the soft, measured tone. She continued to speak even as the person on Cleo’s phone began to yell at her. “I have an undercover agent embedded on the general’s staff. She called to say she thought her cover had been blown.”

Each word heightened the blaze in Lucy’s eyes and set off a chain reaction in Kara. Her muscles tensed until she trembled on a knife’s edge between shattering or screaming a primal challenge.

“I’ve lost contact.” The voice shouting at Lucy…stopped. “It’s Alex, Kara. The undercover agent is Alex.”

“What?” That couldn’t be true. Kara stared at Lucy in disbelief. If it was true, if Lucy wasn’t lying… Had _Alex_ been lying all those years? With all the returned letters? With her anger and accusations after Kara saved the plane?

She didn’t hear Cleo call her name, or Lucy shout into her phone. All Kara heard was Alex’s wildly elevated heartbeat halfway across the city. Fear controlled Kara’s actions. Adrenaline and the renewed, warm burst of Sol’s gifts fueled her mad dash into the bedroom for The Suit.

Kara cleared the balcony before her cape, boots, and gloves had fully engaged, and a sonic boom rattled (and broke) more than a few windows as she sought maximum speed before clearing the crush of buildings.

Alex.

The name repeated over and over in time with Alex’s heartbeat. Kara narrowed in on the sound until it pulled her across National City to a newly “reclaimed” and gentrified neighborhood of pricey apartments and trendy condominiums. Shops and restaurants were neatly tucked into any extra spaces.

She didn’t see the pedestrians on the sidewalk stop to stare and point at her pell-mell flight. Kara was only aware of Alex.

Alex, who might not have turned her back on Kara, or on aliens. Alex, who might not have forgotten all the warmth and love she’d given to a scared Kryptonian refugee in Midvale.

No matter the urgency of the situation, though, Kara didn’t blast in with no plan. She peered through buildings and glass as she moved closer to Alex’s location. A dozen armed soldiers flooded the landing and the main living space of an apartment. There were two people _in_ the apartment. One holding off the soldiers and the other unmoving on the ground.

Kara didn’t hesitate. She flew past the building, hoping to find a way in behind the line of Alex’s attackers. It wasn’t hard to find what she needed. The entire front was glass. Anyone looking would see the fight – and Supergirl crashing onto Alex’s floor.

Anger, fear, and that tiny pinprick of hope leant additional oomph to Kara’s punches and kicks. Soldiers lodged in drywall or broke through apartment doors as she threw them out of her path. In seconds, Kara and the black-clad and helmeted figure from the night before stood together in Alex’s living room.

Alex lay on the ground. Blood drenched her shirt and matted her hair.

What should she do? Kara dithered as sirens wailed increasingly close to the building. The other fighter knelt and picked Alex off the ground, cradling her the same way they’d held Kara in the Cadmus truck.

Only this time, they offered Alex to Kara. “Lucy has a safe location ready. You must take Alex there.” They shoved Alex into Kara’s arms.

Of course, Kara didn’t object. Not with Alex’s blood already staining the white of her suit and Alex’s skin turning a horrible, waxy gray.

“Take this.” A Bluetooth earpiece was unceremoniously jammed into Kara’s hand. A second later, a phone joined it. “Use this. Directions will be provided. You must hurry. Cadmus has more soldiers; although, some of them wear the uniform of peacekeepers.”

Something in the voice struck Kara. Some hint of accent or the odd turn of phrase made Kara hesitate as she tried to place them.

“Go! Now!” White, blue, and red lights lit up the apartment as shouts and the tromp of booted feet echoed outside and in the nearby stairwell. “You must go now!” Kara was shoved toward the wall of windows at the front of the apartment.

The situation finally caught up with her. Kara raised a booted foot and easily shattered the glass. “What about you?”

“I am no one of any consequence.”

Kara firmed her jaw. “I’ll come back for you as soon as Alex is safe.” Ignoring the quiet huff of laughter her vow earned, she shifted Alex into one arm and inserted the earphone into her ear. The phone fit perfectly into one of the pockets on her equipment belt. The line was live as Kara jumped into the night sky. “This is Supergirl. What’s the location of the safe house?”

“Supergirl,” Lucy responded crisply. “One of my agents is on the line with us. She’ll provide the information you need. Cleo and I will meet you at the safe house.”

“Yes, ma’am.” A new voice joined the conversation. Kara heard a thin edge of tension beneath the woman’s cool control. “Head for Death Valley. We’re working with an asset to block all satellite and radar tracking over the US so you don’t have to worry that Cadmus will follow you.”

Humans had that level of technology? Kara tabled the question for another time and took The Voice at her word. Keeping Alex flush against her front to minimize any drag or the greater risk of her speed to Alex’s human body, Kara set course. “ETA in twenty minutes.” It was too slow. Kara could be there in _seconds_ if she broke the sound barrier, but Alex would pay for her impatience.

“Roger that.”

Uncaring of The Voice, Kara talked to Alex as she flew. “I told you once that you’d be the best and brightest mind on Krypton.” Her arms tightened around the slack body cradled against her. “I didn’t know you’d also be a general greater than Pir-El or Aunt Astra.”

The Voice coughed, pulling Kara’s attention away from Alex. “Supergirl, I’ve got your location from your phone. I’m sending a specific set of coordinates. You can follow those directions to the safe house. You won’t see us from the air. We’re lead-lined and well hidden. I’ll talk you in once you’re closer.”

“Thank you, Agent.” Kara listened to the phone’s “voice” provide directions. It was definitely _not_ Siri. The voice was mechanical, clearly designed to be all business and less fun, as it guided Kara to her location as if she were a plane or helicopter.

“Hold on, Alex.” Kara pushed her speed a little more. Even with the wind whipping around them, she could hear the wheeze in Alex’s breathing and the occasional stutter in her heartbeat.

The Voice responded to Kara’s plea to Alex. “Supergirl, we have medical personnel standing by. We’ll do everything we can for Agent Danvers.” Kara wanted to thank the agent, but she continued. “You’re about two minutes out now. We’ve turned the lights on for you.”

There were no lights. Kara employed every bit of her enhanced vision and didn’t see… A flash of green. The circle of lights disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. On. Off. “I see it.” She’d also glimpsed the armed agents lining the helipad – and a group of people clustered around a stretcher.

_That’s_ where Kara landed; so close to the stretcher that her cape brushed the secured rails. Her boots had no more hit the tarmac than Alex was carefully taken from her arms and lowered to the stretcher. She stared after the doctors and techs as they (and Alex) disappeared through a disguised entry. The other non-medical agents followed until Kara was alone, save for one lone figure.

“Supergirl.” The agent stepped forward. “Thank you for bringing Agent Danvers home.” His voice was a deep rumble. “I’m sure you have many questions; if you’ll come inside, I’ll answer what I can. Or you can wait until Agent Lane arrives.”

She took several steps toward the hidden entrance before she remembered. “I need to go back to National City to get someone. One of your agents? They were with Lucy when she saved me from Cadmus; she saved Alex tonight, too.” Kara had no illusion that this man didn’t already know her identity after “Agent Lane” had saved simple, _human_ Kara Zorel. “I promised I’d go back to make sure she was safe.”

“The agent is fine, Supergirl.” His smile was bright in the otherwise dark desert. “Please come into the base, and we can talk.” When Kara hesitated, he grew more somber. “You have little reason to trust me, but I promise you that we are doing everything we can to heal Alex…Agent Danvers. The other agent was backup and was not injured. You can speak with her when she arrives. We have recalled all agents assigned to this operation.”

All agents, implying Alex hadn’t been the only one undercover.

It was too much. Kara stared at the agent across from her in this dark, desert hellscape, drowning from everything that had happened. “Why is Alex…why are you doing this?” she asked, trying to understand and make all the events since rescuing the plane make sense.

Slowly moving closer, the man held out a hand. “My name is J’onn. Please. I know you’re worried about Alex. We’ll check on her and I’ll explain everything. Know that everything we’ve done was necessary. We didn’t have a choice, not if we wanted to keep you and many other aliens safe.”

Choices. Everything came down to choices.

_It was so loud. All the time. Huddled beneath the bed, Kara pressed bent arms over her ears. It didn’t help. She could hear Eliza and Jeremiah talking in the kitchen. Their voices battering at her mind as if they were under the bed with her while they argued._

_“I know it wasn’t what we planned, Ellie.” There was so much exhaustion in Jeremiah’s voice. He’d looked tired at breakfast. Alex had even teased him about falling asleep in his oatmeal. “But I…I don’t have a choice. We need the money.”_

_“Screw the money!” Kara winced. Eliza’s shout floated up the stairs without any help from her enhanced hearing. “You can’t do this. What they want…”_

_Her voice cut off abruptly._

_“It’s done. I’ve signed the contract.” One of the kitchen chairs, probably the one Jeremiah used for every meal, squeaked along the tiled floor. “This is a short trip. Only a few days. I need you to handle the research while I’m gone. Make sure to keep the notes in the new office safe.”_

“Supergirl?”

“If I’m going to be staying here for more than a few minutes, call me Kara,” she responded quietly as she shook his hand. “If you work with Alex and Lucy, then you already know everything about me.”

His smile turned wry. “Not all of our agents know; however, you and…and a few others were the catalyst for this program.” J’onn opened the door into the facility. No light spilled out. They stepped into complete darkness that lasted until the door closed and sealed with a hiss. “Now that we have gone head to head with Cadmus and Alex’s cover is blown, it may not be possible to keep your identity a secret. I’m sorry.”

Kara laughed without humor. “Sorry won’t cut it if people close to me end up hurt or dead.”

Their footsteps echoed on the polished concrete floor of the narrow hallway.

“I assure you, Miss Zorel, that Agent Danvers was well aware of the danger when she volunteered for her mission.”

“And Elenor Porter? Did she know what she signed up for when she followed me out of a rarely used maintenance door at CatCo?” Kara snapped. “Did the agent who helped Lucy rescue me volunteer to die fighting off those men after Alex? What about Lucy? Her father’s dead. He was in bed with Cadmus, but he died because I helped break the story of the century.”

J’onn didn’t react to Kara’s anger. He led her through a bewildering hallways in quick, ground-eating strides. “Alex is this way. I’m sure you’ll feel better once you see she’ll recover.”

He reminded Kara of Diana. Calm and controlled and _irritating_. She throttled the desire to scream at him and managed to unclench her fists by the time they turned another corner into a much wider and populated hallway. Kara caught the universal hospital scent of industrial cleaner and pain.

The agents all wore black fatigues and polos. They were armed. Each stepped politely out of the way and nodded as they passed.

They reminded Kara of the Royal Guard when Queen Hippolyta or Diana moved about the palace, and her muscles loosened. “You’re not an agent,” she said.

J’onn’s grin was quick and quirky. “Not exactly.”

“What are you then? Exactly.”

“Technically, all of us, with a few exceptions, came from the DEO. We operate the same way we did then.” He stopped in front of a large area cut off from the hallway by a wall of windows looking into an emergency room or hospital. Kara didn’t see Alex in any of the beds in the room.

One of the scrub-clad medical personnel raised a hand when she spotted J’onn. He waved back before beckoning her to the hallway.

The woman slid one of the glass panes, creating a doorway and allowing her into the hallway.

“Doctor Hamilton, I’m sure you’ve heard of Supergirl.” The doctor nodded but didn’t otherwise act as if Kara’s presence was out of the ordinary. “How’s our agent?”

Hamilton wasn’t as stoic when she addressed J’onn. “Hanging on.” She rattled off a list of medical conditions that required Kara to dig deep into her years studying for her entrance to the Science Guild and her brief rotation as Epione’s assistant.

Her mind insisted on repeating Alex’s injuries: collapsed lung, shattered patella, broken ribs, and a torn quadricep.

“She’s in surgery now to repair her kneecap, but I expect her to be terrorizing my staff by tomorrow.” A warm hand gripped Kara’s. “She’s going to be fine, Supergirl. Although, you might have to use your super strength to keep her quiet and stationary for the next couple of months.”

Kara would tie Alex to her bed with Diana’s Lasso of Truth, if necessary. “Thank you,” she told Hamilton. “Thank you so much.” Relief made her lightheaded. She staggered to the glass and leaned against it.

J’onn and Hamilton gave her space and time. She heard them talking but didn’t pay attention. Not until a reflection in the windows showed a ramrod straight figure draped in leather and wearing a motorcycle helmet.

“You!” Kara spun. “I was going to come back, but J’onn said you weren’t hurt.”

The agent froze. Kara could _feel_ the stare despite the dark faceplate. “J’onn was correct. I am well and glad to see you.” Gloved hands rose slowly, gripped the helmet, and slid it off.

Scars, some white with age and others still pink and raised, marred both cheeks and much of the neck visible above the heavy leather jacket. Kara’s eyes were drawn to them, to the sheer impossibility of them.

“Kara.” The voice was harsh. Damaged. Nothing like Kara remembered. The eyes and the bright white stripe in the dark brown hair, though, hadn’t changed since the final days of Krypton.

“Aunt Astra!” Kara jumped or flew across the hall into a pair of strong arms.

“ _Ehrosh :bem, kir sh ed._”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehrosh :bem, kir shed - Hello, little girl/one


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't thank chupedupey and Alpha Zulu 2.0 enough. They made this chapter possible with their suggestions and their encouragement when I wanted to throw the whole thing in the recycle bin.

Kara burrowed into Astra. Not even the smell of leather and the bright lights of the hallway could stop the sense of _home_ and _safe_ that Astra had always represented.

_“You should be sleeping, Little One.”_

_Kara, who’d been hiding beneath the covers and reading with the aid of the spy beacon’s glow, scrambled out of bed. “Aunt Astra!” She kept her voice low, despite her excitement. “Mother said you wouldn’t come. That you were leaving for Kandor.”_

_“In the morning.” Kara ran to Astra and wrapping her arms around her aunt’s waist. “I couldn’t leave without seeing my favorite niece.”_

_Kara giggled and peered up at Astra. She looked tired, like Mother. Yet her smile was as warm as always. Kara liked to think that smile was just for her. Something Astra only shared with her. “I’m your only niece.” Burying her face against Astra’s uniform, Kara soaked in the floral notes of oregus plant juice and the richer smell of H’Raka meat. Foods that Astra said were common in the Military Guild’s dining hall. “Do you really have to go? My induction into the Science Guild is next week!”_

_Astra’s hand settled on Kara’s hair. “I’m sorry, Kara.”_

_Glancing up at the strange quiver in her aunt’s voice, she saw tears glimmer on Astra’s lashes for an instant._

_“I’m afraid I may not be home for a long time.”_

_The bedroom door burst open, and Astra shoved Kara behind her as armed peacekeepers rushed in. They formed a circle around Astra and Kara. One of them, a Captain from the House of Re according to the markings on his tunic, said, “Astra In-Ze, you are under arrest for treason and murder by order of the High Council.”_

_Alura stood behind the ring of peacekeepers. “Kara, come to me now.” She was completely calm and composed. Why wasn’t she angry or afraid? Why wasn’t she demanding that the peacekeepers leave or insisting Astra was innocent? “Kara! Now!”_

_“It’s alright, Little One. Go to your mother.” Astra slowly turned to Kara and knelt. “No matter what you hear of me, remember that I love you. You are the daughter of my heart, Kara Zor-El. Be brave.”_

_Only Astra’s plea for bravery kept Kara from screaming as the captain snapped mag-cuffs on Astra’s wrists and ankles. Two of the peacekeepers hauled her away, not slowing even as Astra stumbled from the drag of the cuffs._

Even as Kara clung to Astra, her aunt pulled away. “How is Agent Danvers?”

“Still in surgery,” Doctor Hamilton replied. “I’ll check on their progress and update you.”

J’onn nodded respectfully at Astra. “Miss Zorel, General. If you’d join me in the conference room, I believe Agent Lane and her guest will be here shortly.” His smile was wry yet amused. “I’ve asked our canteen staff to cater the meeting. However, I doubt it will be up to your caloric needs, Miss Zorel.”

“Kara,” she reminded him. Kara’s mind was slowly recovering from the shock of Alex’s status, the return of her powers, and her reunion with Astra. But she had _questions_. So many questions. They ran through her mind like a hamster on a wheel. She was aware that Astra observed her closely as Kara followed J’onn back through the warren of hallways.

Each step took effort. She had her powers, yet Kara wanted to curl up on one of the beds in the medical area and sleep. She dropped into the first chair in the spacious conference room. People used this room for real work rather than pointless conversation. Scratches marred the surface and the polish was missing from multiple sections. A whiteboard covered the far wall; Kara could read a list of names and places despite an attempt to erase the information.

_Lillian Luthor – National City. Dabney Donovan - unknown. Serling Roquette – Star City_.

No one spoke. J’onn took up residence in front of the white board, hands steepled and eyes closed. Astra remained standing. Her posture was stiff; her eyes restlessly scanned the room in a repeating sweep.

Pulling out the phone Astra had given her, Kara slid it across the table toward her aunt. The borrowed earphone joined it. “I thought you were dead.” She refrained from bitterly questioning why Astra had never reached out to her, letting Kara know she was not alone on Earth.

Krypton’s most decorated general stared impassively (and silently) back at her.

“I always believed I was alone.” Maybe she _was_ going to start asking questions. Kara rubbed both hands over her face. Was this the time and place for answers?

Astra stood only a few feet away. Alex, already an unofficial member of the House of El, was under medical care in this very facility. J’onn, and most of the shadow-DEO agents, knew of Kara’s powers and identity.

There might never be a better place.

“Why didn’t you let me know you survived?”

Astra’s expression didn’t change. Her eyes were cold and distant. “I was not in a position to find you, _kir sh ed_.”

Kara sucked in a sharp breath. “I see.” She didn’t. She really, really didn’t. “Does Clark know you’re on Earth?” If he did, if Astra had gone to him…

“I have not spoken with Kal-El; although, I am aware of his exploits on this planet.”

The conversation was stiffer and more uncomfortable than Kara’s one attempt at dating after leaving Themyscira.

_“I couldn’t believe it when you agreed to dinner.” Angelique’s smile was soft and a little hesitant. “Diana did not pressure you?”_

_Kara shook her head but couldn’t quite manage to meet Angelique’s gaze. There hadn’t been threats or arm twisting, merely a plethora of reminders that Alex had refused to accept her betrothal to Kara and that they hadn’t spoken or corresponded in over a decade. “No. No pressure.”_

_She should say more. She should reassure Angelique that she’d genuinely wanted to have dinner. Kara cleared her throat. “This is a nice place.”_

_“Yes, the view is quite lovely.” Leaning forward, Angelique did **not** glance out the window at the spires of nearby Notre Dame. Her long, blood red-painted nails brushed Kara’s fingertips where they tortured her linen napkin. “I had hoped you would agree to a date but was…uncertain of your feelings.”_

_Feelings. Kara almost laughed. She felt nothing for Angelique beyond friendship. “I’m glad you finally asked me out.” If only to get Diana off her back. “I haven’t been here before. What do you recommend? Diana did mention the duck?”_

Not even food could help Kara through this ordeal. “Let’s not wait for Lucy and Cleo. Tell me what I need to know.”

J’onn leaned back in his chair. “It is a long story. I’d prefer…”

“Now!” Kara did her best to channel Hippolyta’s imperious manner as she stared him down.

Rather than bow to her forceful request, J’onn picked up his phone and pressed several buttons. The Polycom in the center of the table sprang to life and road noise roared through the conference room. “Agent Lane?”

“Director? We’re still thirty minutes out.”

“I understand. However, Miss Zorel is understandably impatient. I’d like to start now.” His deep voice seemed to wrap around Kara, soothing a little of her roiling emotion.

“Go ahead. I’ve got you on speaker for Kara’s friend,” Lucy responded. “Wait! Sorry. How’s Alex?”

Everyone was worried about Alex. Alex had many friends and supporters. People, like Lucy and Astra, who cared for her. Yet, Alex had allowed Kara, her _bondmate_ , to believe she was an anti-alien federal agent.

Her teetering emotions swung between worry, confusion, frustration, and a soul-deep exhaustion.

“OK. We’re ready now. Sorry, Kara.”

Kara nodded before realizing Lucy couldn’t see her. “Of course.”

“Miss Zorel,” he was never going to use her first name, Kara thought, “our efforts against Project Cadmus began years ago. Even before your pod landed on Earth. Its aim is, and always has been, to create an army of stronger and more powerful than ‘normal’ humans.”

Grainy images appeared on the projector screen at the far end of the table: men and women handcuffed to beds, their bodies inhumanly muscled; cages of animals (mostly larger primates) tearing apart much smaller species in grotesque displays of strength.

“Then Superman took to the skies, and the focus shifted.”

Clark. Of course, it had to be Clark. Kara glowered at the tabletop.

“What had once been solely a governmental project run by the military expanded. America didn’t need an army to defeat the Soviet Union or the rise of a second Nazi Germany. Cadmus grew to include scientists devoted to developing weapons to defeat aliens – especially Superman.”

Kara read the faint scrawl on the whiteboard again. “Scientists like Lex and Lillian Luthor.” She might not like or respect Clark, but Kara had still followed some of the news coverage of his public war with Lex and LuthorCorp. A war that had tragically ended with Lex massacring dozens of people in Metropolis. The other two names weren’t familiar.

Not willing to dig deeper into Clark’s role in their current situation, she redirected the conversation. “How did Alex get involved? How did weapons development turn into kidnapping me?” What had Harper said in the truck? “What did the Cadmus doctors need from me?”

J’onn didn’t reply immediately. He shifted in his chair and avoided Kara’s gaze.

It was Lucy who finally spoke. “Alex needs to tell you why she joined up.”

“What do you…” Kara tried to demand details.

“No, Kara. I’m not going to tell you, and neither is J’onn.” Lucy was resolute. “She had her reasons, and she knew you’d find out about us at some point. She made me promise to let her talk to you.”

That wasn’t good enough! Kara was here for answers.

Unfortunately, the only answers available didn’t involve Alex. “Cadmus still has volunteers for their super soldier program, but Cadmus isn’t solely using Earth-based drugs in their enhancement serum now. It graduated to kidnapping aliens and using their blood, their body parts, and their weaknesses to build hybrid humans. What the news has dubbed meta-humans,” J’onn said.

Her drive to find out about Alex took a back seat as preternatural dread settled into her bones. “How many aliens? From which planets?” How had the American government been part of this? Why wasn’t this front-page news across the globe?

“I can’t share that information yet, Miss Zorel.”

Lucy apparently didn’t agree with J’onn’s silence. “Cadmus started small, Kara. Then, about the time you arrived, another much larger group of aliens crashed-landed. The DEO – my father’s DEO – was the first on the scene.”

Those aliens would have been easy targets unless their ship-board weapons had survived the crash.

“As I said, some aliens provided source DNA that Cadmus used to increase speed or strength in human volunteers. Like the soldiers you saw a moment ago.” J’onn appeared unwilling to move beyond the enhancements but went on after glancing at the Polycom. “The other victims were…experiments. Test subjects, if you will.”

Test subjects. The phrase inspired images of lab rats. Animals tortured to create better cosmetics or better drugs. As Kara took in all of the information and tried to piece it together, her gaze landed on the one person in the room who had yet to speak.

Astra continued to sit silently, observing everything – and everyone. They’d been apart so many years. Astra exuded the same aura of calm competence Kara remembered, yet there was something buried beneath the General mask. Hardship and pain. Events that had reshaped Astra in ways not even Krypton’s many wars or its very destruction had done

Kara needed to figure out what Lucy and J’onn weren’t saying, what they were leaving out. Lives depended on the DEO, on Kara, on defeating Cadmus.

As Kara blatantly stared at the scars on Astra’s face (scars that should _not_ be possible under Sol’s rays), the puzzle began to take on a sickening shape. “In order to build a weapon to defeat Superman, Cadmus needed to know what hurt us, what could kill us.”

“Yes.” Astra finally spoke. “Your Alex found me and the remaining members of my crew. We had been _guests_ of Cadmus since Fort Rozz crashed on Earth.”

Slapping her hands over her suddenly burning eyes, Kara realized this was why Astra hadn’t been able to tell Kara she was on Earth.

Kara prayed to Rao her control over her vision held. If she failed, she’d tear the facility apart, taking innocent lives along the way.

Somehow, Kara pushed back the lasers heating behind her eyes.

She made _no_ attempt to control her enhanced strength.

Springing from the chair with enough force to fling it across the room, Kara punched the wall behind her as she screamed. Her hand shattered the thick concrete. Yanking free, Kara turned back to Astra. “They are still alive?”

Astra was the best general in Krypton’s history (only the House of Zod’s position on the High Council kept his name above hers on the Military Guild’s Wall of Honor). There was a human army in this facility for Astra to use. Why was Cadmus allowed to exist?

A single raised eyebrow and the cutting contempt in Astra’s expression broke Kara’s rage. It implied that Kara had less intelligence than a first year Military Guild cadet attempting to take down a troop transport with a hand-held energy displacer. 

“The DEO doesn’t sanction murder,” J’onn said softly into the sudden silence.

Lucy laughed. “Really? Since when? Do you want me to list all the people and aliens my father and the DEO killed? The only thing standing between Cadmus and certain death are you, Alex, and the General, because the rest of us are ready to end this once and for all.” She paused. “I’m here. Give me five to clear security protocols.” The Polycom line went dead.

“Kara…” Astra’s hand reached for her. “ _Think_! There is more at stake than avenging my scars.” 

Her words drew Kara’s eyes back to Astra’s face. Her neck. To the thick ropes of puckered and pulled flesh. The table edge crumpled in Kara’s grip. “How can you…”

“Think! I know you are not a fool. Killing humans is not the answer!”

Yet killing those involved with Cadmus would make it safer for other aliens. Kara would never forget her helplessness and terror in the back of that truck. The agony of the green drug as it burned through her veins.

Astra continued to talk, though. Each word landing with the force of a punch. “Humans already fear anything they do not understand. They kill their own kind over differences in religion, sexuality, and skin color. How many would accept those of us from other worlds if they knew how many of us inhabit this planet? What would they do if they knew or witnessed us slaughter scientists and soldiers working for their government?”

Kara wanted to ignore Astra. She didn’t want to think about the situation logically. She wanted to fight and destroy and make those involved hurt as much as they’d hurt Astra.

“They’d hate us even more,” she finally mumbled. She’d lived alongside humans enough to know how right Astra was. If Kara attacked and destroyed Cadmus, she’d become the superpowered villain Cadmus believed her – and all aliens - to be. Anti-alien sentiments would swell.

She sat down again, started to speak, and closed her mouth on all the words queueing on her tongue.

Despite all the information thrown at her tonight, Kara knew there were important pieces missing. Alex’s secrets? Lucy’s? How had Cadmus captured Astra and the others on Fort Rozz? The massive prison ship must have held several dozen (perhaps as many as an entire unit) of Kryptonians as well as hundreds of other species. How had they given Astra those scars? Why hadn’t Astra displayed any superpowers when she’d been helping to rescue Kara or protecting Alex?

“I can hear you thinking.” Astra had moved closer as Kara wrangled her thoughts into some semblance of submission.

Kara hoped that wasn’t true. No one deserved to deal with the maelstrom in her mind. “And what did my thoughts tell you?” How was she supposed to treat Astra now? Her favorite aunt, the one person closer to her than even Alura, had been a prisoner of an undeclared war while Kara enjoyed idyllic days on Themyscira.

“Your guilt clouds your eyes, _kir sh ed_.” Fingers cupped Kara’s chin gently. “None of this is your fault. How could it be?”

“Why didn’t you… _anyone_ reach out?” Kara’s cry bordered on plaintive. “I could have helped!” She’d have been there for Astra and Alex. She could have enlisted Diana and the Justice League.

_“I can’t believe you belong to a Superhero Club,” Kara teased Diana. It was rare to catch her mentor off guard. Even more astonishing to see a blush tint Diana’s cheeks. “Is there a secret knock? Do you wear funny robes or hats and have sacred ceremonies?”_

_Hands resting on her hips, Diana threw back her head and laughed. “I am certain the robes and ceremonies would have evolved had I not managed to curb Bruce’s enthusiasm.”_

_Kara giggled, trying to imagine the always serious Bruce in the furry and horned hat she’d seen in an episode of **The Flintstones**. _

_“One day, **you** might be invited to join.” There was a new hint of mischief in Diana’s gaze – and in her smirk. “I think I shall tell Bruce that your initiation shall be to convince Arthur to wear the suit Lucius designed.”_

_“Lucius makes the best suits!” Kara dreamed of her own suit. Something like Clark’s, only without the red breechcloth. “Why do I have to convince Arthur to wear one?”_

_“Perhaps it is the bright, eye-piercing orange color of the scaled top.”_

Kara shouldn’t have had to bring the Justice League into the fight. Clark was a founding member. “Why isn’t Clark here? Why didn’t _Clark_ rescue you?” He had to have known that Fort Rozz crashed. There was no way he’d been ignorant of Cadmus and its desire to destroy him. Clark was dating Lois Lane, Lucy’s older sister and a Pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist.

“My sister’s boy toy isn’t a fan of the DEO. The real one _or_ this one.” Lucy and Cleo entered the room in a rush. “Either we’re too concerned with controlling the alien criminals who escaped from Fort Rozz and avoided Cadmus, or we’re in league with people who want to create soldiers and weapons to keep aliens like Superman from running amok and taking over the world. Take your pick. Either way, he’s too good to get his hands dirty. I basically begged him to help us shut Cadmus down before Alex went undercover.”

This wasn’t about choosing sides. This wasn’t about slumming with humans or organizations with which Clark didn’t agree. This was about family. Except Kara had learned in her first days on Earth that Clark felt no responsibility to his House or to those who owed them allegiance. “I see.” There would be a reckoning with her cousin once Cadmus was no more. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I say this every time, but this fic would not happen without my amazing betas: chupeydupey, AlphaZulu2.0, and PrettyGurlStud. A really special shout out to AlphaZulu2.0 for going above and beyond with the translations listed at the end.

The food arrived, interrupting the strained silence in the conference room. Kara stared at the plates of sandwiches and burgers, the piles of greasy fries and bags of vending machine chips and wanted to vomit. The small room soon reeked. “I need a few minutes.”

Cleo was at her side as Kara charged out of the room. They didn’t speak. Cleo guided them through the maze of hallways with discreet touches to Kara’s back while Kara grappled with her topsy turvy emotions.

They picked up a tail at some point. Kara was too much in her feelings to know when. She trusted Cleo to have her back, a place her friend had occupied since Kara arrived on Themyscira. It was a relief to slip out of the hidden facility and into the chilly desert night. The exterior lighting was off. Nothing betrayed their location except Kara, Cleo, and the black-clad agent who gave them plenty of space by leaning against the door they’d all used.

“May I…”

Cleo extended her cell phone before Kara completed the request. “We’ll make them pay for what they’ve done, Kara. We’ve trained our entire lives to defeat evil like this.”

As much as Kara longed to destroy every trace of Cadmus, she knew Astra and J’onn had a point. Killing the Luthors and every person allied with them would do nothing to end their scheme of creating stronger, faster, alien-human hybrid soldiers. Nor would overt action make humans trust aliens more.

Dialing Diana’s number, Kara marshaled her inner resources and prepared for a call she’d hoped to never make.

“ _Kleió? Pós eínai…”_ Diana began speaking immediately. Kara heard the concern in the rush of words.

She interrupted. “ _Mou éleipses, megáli mou aderfí._ ” The simple words were the start of a specially coded conversation that let Diana, or any member of the Royal Family, know that Kara needed backup.

“ _Mporó na vrískomai ekeí aúrio.”_ Some of the pressure on Kara’s chest receded at Diana’s support. “ _Ektós kai an théleis na guríseis spíti_?” Going “home” meant that she was in imminent danger. Diana would call up the entire Royal Guard and rush to Kara’s side if she said yes.

Although much of Kara’s fears had eased, she was still unsure if she should tell Diana about the DEO and the desert base. Kara quickly considered and discarded the idea. It was too complicated, not to mention unnecessary for this call. “ _Eímai me fílous afti ti stigmí._ ” Lucy had saved her from Cadmus. If that didn’t make her a friend… “ _Tha se páro proí-proí gia na sou po an tha meíno edó._ ”

“ _Na thumásai pos s' agapó, mikrí mou aderfí. Prépei na kanonísoume na vretheí óli i oikogéneia súntona. Xéreis polí kalá pos oi theíoi sou rotáne óli tin óra gia eséna._ ”

 _“Kai ‘gó s’ agapó. Na dóseis pollá filiá stin oikogéneia. Tha to íthela polí na vrethoúme óloi mazí súntoma.”_ Kara ended the call.

“Family visit?” Cleo asked.

Kara chuckled. “We’re lucky she isn’t already here. She said she’d be here tomorrow.” Tracking the rapid yet inconsistent movement of a jackrabbit, Kara fought to regain her emotional footing.

Unfortunately, the day wasn’t done with her. “Ma’am, Agent Danvers is awake. Director J’onzz thought you might like to see her.” The agent who’d followed them outside hovered several feet away.

“Thank you.” Kara took one more fortifying breath and turned away from the darkened desert. “Lead the way.” She was sure her strained smile wasn’t visible to a human in this setting, but she felt compelled to try. “I’m afraid I wasn’t paying much attention when we landed.”

“It can be confusing,” the agent agreed.

They trooped back inside. Kara hated the return of the too-narrow hallways and the knowledge they were locked into an underground bunker. Pressure built on her chest with each step.

“Kara?” Cleo’s voice was barely loud enough for Kara’s enhanced hearing. The concern, though, was loud and clear.

She tried to answer, only to realize she was panting. Nearly immune to temperature, Kara suddenly registered sweltering heat. Her steps faltered.

“Supergirl?” The agent leading them to Alex paused. “Do you need Dr. Hamilton?” Her hand rose, tapping at an earpiece Kara hadn’t noticed before. Her body was poised for action as she observed Kara closely.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on the one thing guaranteed to calm her: flying. Kara hadn’t lied to Lucy about her favorite power. There was nothing better than floating on the currents and watching the world play out below.

She imagined Themyscira. The crystal-clear waters surrounding the island with the white spires of the palace and the Goddess’ Temple. Her breathing slowed; the pressure on her chest lifted. In. Out. Kara opened her eyes.

Cleo and the agent were still there, still watching her.

“Sorry.” Kara shrugged slightly yet didn’t offer anything more. “I’m ready now. Where’s Agent Danvers?”

* * *

“Hey.” Alex’s voice was scratchy and weak. Her eyes, which stared in Kara’s direction, were hazy from the pain medication in the IV attached to her arm.

Kara wanted to wrap her in a hug and never let go. Instead, she sank onto the rolling stool next to the bed and gently touched Alex’s hip. “Hey.”

Alex’s lips twitched into a smile. “You used to…talk more.”

Grabbing for fake pearls, Kara gasped dramatically. “I did not!” Then she giggled, the weird anxiety surrounding her talk with Alex settling into the background.

Alex’s echoing laugh ended in a hiss and groan. The hand not encumbered with a plastic heart monitor clipped to a finger or an IV needle grabbed for her ribs. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“Sorry! Sorry!” All of Kara’s mirth disappeared at the first hint of Alex’s pain.

“’sokay.” Sweat slicked Alex’s forehead. Her skin glowed paper white under the harsh lighting in the med bay. “I hear I’ve got you to thank for making it…making it here.”

They weren’t turning this conversation into some kind of balance sheet. Kara dared to lean over and press her lips to Alex’s forehead. “Astra had you covered. I just helped with the cleanup.” Daring Alex to push the issue, she added, “I owe you for getting her out of Cadmus alive.”

She grinned at Alex’s scowl. It lacked the usual power and was cute, not that Kara would dare to say it out loud.

“J’onn and Lucy told me about Cadmus.” Kara slumped against the side of the bed. “I’d kick your ass for risking your life going undercover, but I can’t. _Rao_ , Alex. You’re more of a superhero than I’ll ever be.”

Two bright pink circles grew on Alex’s cheeks, and she opened her mouth

Kara’s free hand snapped up. “Don’t. Don’t even go there.” She matched Alex glare for glare.

Their mini standoff was interrupted by the med bay door sliding open. Cleo crossed the room quickly, leaning down to whisper. “Diana called back. She and your uncles will be in National City tomorrow afternoon.”

What little emotional equilibrium Kara had regained sank beneath a new swell of anxiety and stress. Diana had been her mentor and big sister since that first day in Coast City. Kara was asking for even more than Diana had already given. Was she asking for too much? As if sensing Kara’s emotions, Cleo squeezed her shoulder and allowed Kara to lean against her for a moment. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Cleo tightened the shoulder “hug” before leaving as quickly as she arrived.

Kara caught Alex staring after Cleo as a suddenly uncomfortable silence descended. “I…” Alex started. Her voice trailed off. “What did J’onn tell you?” She finally demanded.

“Only what you approved.” Kara shrugged when Alex focused on her again. “Scientists and the army trying to create an army of super soldiers and weapons to kill me, Clark, and every other alien taking refuge on Earth. He said you had more information about why you’d volunteered to go after Cadmus.”

“I didn’t _choose_ to join Cadmus.”

The blunt statement brought Kara upright in the chair. “What?” If the DEO had strong armed Alex, Kara would burn this facility to the ground the minute Cadmus was no longer a threat.

Alex appeared to shrink into the bed, dwarfed by the bank of equipment surrounding the head of the bed. Her eyes closed, and she pulled her hand away from Kara. “There’s been a Danvers in Cadmus since before Kal dumped you on the porch.”

The words didn’t make sense. Kara shook her head, as if that would force her tired brain to understand.

“Dad did a lot of consultant work during the summers. He said it kept him up to date on any new discoveries in xenobiology. Kal hooked him up with a bunch of jobs in Metropolis after Mom and Dad helped him learn to use his powers.”

A coughing fit interrupted. Kara grabbed the cup of ice chips on the small table near the bed. She dug some out with a plastic spoon. “Here.” She patiently fed the ice to Alex until Alex waived her off. “We don’t have to do this now.”

Ignoring Kara, Alex resumed talking. “Those jobs were with subsidiaries of LuthorCorp. It wasn’t an issue back then. Kal and Lex were friends. Lex even offered Dad a job. Dad turned it down. But then…”

Then. “Then the Super/Luthor War started, and Clark left me with your family.”

“He didn’t know what would happen, Kara. None of us could have predicted any of it,” Alex defended Clark quietly.

“Clark should have considered the cost to your family, Alex!” Kara snapped. She remembered, again, Jeremiah and Eliza talking about their financial troubles. “It doesn’t take a genius to know that, if a _human_ child is expensive, one with an alien metabolism would be more than a normal family could afford.”

Alex’s eyes popped open. “I told J’onn not to say anything!”

“He didn’t.” Rao, she was tired. Kara leaned her head against the mattress. “I overheard your parents when I still lived with you. They were arguing about Jeremiah accepting some job offer because they needed the money.” How different would all their lives have been if Clark had honored their family connection?

“I’m glad you left,” Alex said tersely. “I thank God or Rao that you were safe and not part of the hell our lives were. Cadmus _owned_ us. Dad never came home from that last trip. Cadmus let him call every few months, so we knew he was alive. They used me and Mom to keep him in line, and they had us watched. They threatened to kill him if we told anyone about them.”

Kara reeled from Alex’s words. Everything she’d thought about Alex, about their bond… Secure in her life on Themyscira, with the support of an island of friends and family, she’d blamed Alex for turning away from her.

All the while, the entire Danvers family had been the pawns of the Luthors and Cadmus.

Alex wasn’t done, though. “I had a breakdown my last year at Stanford. They’d already recruited me.” Her laugh slashed through Kara worse than the Sword of Athena through paper. “I was supposed to be Dr. Alex Danvers, medical doctor and PhD in genetic engineering. Cadmus needed those skills in their alien chop shop.” All of Alex’s anger and passion had turned into an emotionless recounting of events. “When I started drinking and went on academic probation, they punished me.”

Kara wanted to scoop Alex up and hold her. To protect her, as Kara should have done from the moment Clark accidentally made Alex her bondmate. Kara was the Heir to the House of El. It was her duty and her privilege to keep Alex safe and cherished.

Cadmus would feel her wrath. Nothing and no one would survive. “Did they hurt you?” She’d start with anyone who’d laid a hand on Alex.

“Not me.” Tears streaked Alex’s face. _Tears_. Alex never cried. _Never_.

No. Kara shook her head. No!

“He’s one of them now,” Alex whispered. “They used Dad in one of their experiments.”

* * *

Kara had no memory of leaving the med bay. She didn’t know how she’d gotten back to the conference room. Cleo remained a silent, familiar presence at her back as she stormed into the room.

Only Lucy remained, lackadaisically pushing wilted lettuce around a bowl.

“Get J’onn and Astra back,” Kara ordered. She was done listening to everyone tell her about Cadmus. She was done feeling overwhelmed. She was going on the offensive, with or without the DEO.

“What are you…”

She wasn’t going to argue or convince. She’d made her decision. “Cleo.”

Cleo bowed and slipped from the room. Kara heard her tell some nameless agent that Director J’onzz and General In-Ze were urgently needed. Booted footsteps rang against concrete as Cleo resumed her position at Kara’s shoulder.

“You can’t interfere in this, Kara.” Lucy pushed back her chair but didn’t stand. “I get it. I do. When Alex asked J’onn to bring me in on the op as her handler, I wanted to kill the general myself. We can’t take them on without making things worse for you and every other alien. Your article, though, paired with information Alex managed to steal from the general and from Cadmus will make a difference!”

“Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself?” Kara asked. “Because people like Lillian Luthor don’t need the US Government to fund their work.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she met Lucy’s glare. “Who killed your father, Lucy? And Harper?”

She was still waiting for an answer when J’onn and Astra walked in.

“Agent Lane?”

“Little One?”

Drawing on every bit of training from Hippolyta and Antiope, Kara waved a hand at the conference table. “Please, have a seat. It’s time I shared our plan for moving forward.”

J’onn sighed, clearly irritated. “Miss Zorel.”

“Director, the DEO can either be part of taking down Cadmus, or it – and you – can sit on the sidelines.” Kara ignored his impatience. “Lucy is convinced that the court of public opinion and the halls of American justice are enough. She’s wrong.

“If General Lane and the Army were the only enemy, we’d have a fighting chance with my article and with turning over the information Alex gathered. The names on your board?” She pointed to the faint writing she’d noticed earlier. “Lillian and Lex Luthor have nearly limitless resources. Billions of dollars and some of the best tech available on this planet. You don’t even have a possible location on Donovan.”

The hum of the overhead lights emphasized J’onn’s and Astra’s lack of reply. Kara unbent enough to sit down. “If we’re going to end Cadmus, we have to change our plan of attack. Congressional hearings might keep more military involvement at bay. However, we have to find the scientists and their financial backers. We have to prevent more alien abductions. And we have to know who our enemies really are. What…” She faltered, remembering the utter devastation on Alex’s face as she’d spoken of Jeremiah. “We need to know what types of modifications Cadmus has succeeded in making to its human soldiers.”

“Alex created a list of experiments she was asked to work on,” Lucy offered.

It was a start. Kara settled back in her chair. They were in for a very long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations (listed as Greek transliterations - English (original Greek))
> 
> Kleió? Pós eínai… - Cleo? How is... (Κλειώ; Πως είναι…)  
> Mou éleipses, megáli mou aderfí - I've missed you, big sister (Μου έλειψες, μεγάλη μου αδερφή )  
> Mporó na vrískomai ekeí aúrio - I can be there (implied, with you) tomorrow (Μπορώ να βρίσκομαι εκεί αύριο)  
> Ektós kai an théleis na guríseis spíti - Unless you want to return home (Εκτός και αν θέλεις να γυρίσεις σπίτι )  
> Eímai me fílous afti ti stigmí - I'm with friends right this moment (Είμαι με φίλους αυτή τη στιγμή)  
> Tha se páro proí-proí gia na sou po an tha meíno edó - I’ll call you first thing in the morning to let you know if I’m staying here (Θα σε πάρω πρωί-πρωί για να σου πω αν θα μείνω εδώ)  
> Na thumásai pos s' agapó, mikrí mou aderfí. Prépei na kanonísoume na vretheí óli i oikogéneia súntona. Xéreis polí kalá pos oi theíoi sou rotáne óli tin óra gia eséna - Remember I love you, little sister. We need to do a family get together soon. You know your uncles ask about you all the time. (Να θυμάσαι πως σ' αγαπώ, μικρή μου αδερφή. Πρέπει να κανονίσουμε να βρεθεί όλη η οικογένεια σύντομα. Ξέρεις πολύ καλά πως οι θείοι σου ρωτάνε όλη την ώρα για εσένα)  
> Kai ‘gó s’ agapó. Na dóseis pollá filiá stin oikogéneia. Tha to íthela polí na vrethoúme óloi mazí súntoma - I love you, too. Give my love to the family. I’d love for all of us to get together soon (Και ‘γώ σ’ αγαπώ. Να δώσεις πολλά φιλιά στην οικογένεια. Θα το ήθελα πολύ να βρεθούμε όλοι μαζί σύντομα)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you thought I'd forgotten all about this fic? Nope! :) But I nearly channeled Heda Lexa and tossed Uncle Batman off Kara's balcony for not playing along with the plot.
> 
> Thanks to chupeydupey for slogging through a very, very rough first draft and helping me believe I shouldn't throw the whole thing way and start over.

Kara batted at the hand on her shoulder. “Noooo. Tell…Gen’r’l ‘m dead.”

The hand didn’t leave. If anything, the fingers closed more tightly around her. “I will most definitely _not_ tell my aunt that you are dead, _mikrí mou aderfí_. She’d send every Amazon to National City to avenge you.”

Amazons in National City. Kara snapped awake and surged from the recliner in a tangle of limbs, blankets, and the still-raised footrest.

“Easy, Kara.” Diana kept Kara from landing face-first on the floor. “I am sorry that I startled you.” Her eyes raked Kara from head to toe. “You are not injured? When you called, when you used the coded language…”

Wild heartbeat slowing, Kara covered Diana’s hand with her own. “I know. I’m sorry. I should have called sooner.”

They stayed like that for a long minute then Diana’s hand slipped from Kara’s shoulder. “You have a story to tell.” She nodded at Alex, fast asleep in the nearby bed, and the hospital-grade equipment that cluttered the large room.

“Yes.” Unwilling to let Alex out of her sight, Kara nonetheless followed Diana into the living room. Not _her_ living room. That had been relegated to the DEO as a command center. Kara (and Alex) had taken up residence in the penthouse suite that Diana used on her once-rare visits.

Bruce was in his typical manspread, taking up most of the couch along one wall. He raised a tumbler of Scotch in greeting as Diana continued to maneuver Kara farther into the room.

“Sit, Kara.” Diana’s gaze grew heavy as it rested on Kara. “Your Alex looks healthier than you. I shall speak with Cleo; she has failed…”  
Kara’s temper flared. “Don’t you dare!”

Silence followed her outburst. Kara was aware that Diana’s expression held less concern and more censure. However, she didn’t care. So many things had happened. Things that had changed Kara’s entire worldview – which included her need to have Diana’s approval.

“Cleo isn’t my nursemaid, Diana.”

Laughter prevented her from saying anything more. “There’s my spitfire. I thought she’d gotten lost on that island of yours, Princess.” Bruce stood and opened his arms.

_“I’m not staying here!” Kara glared at Diana and the man in the suit who’d opened the door of the large house. “You **promised**!” _

_Diana ignored her angry comments. She also managed to keep Kara from fleeing, despite Sol’s gifts. “I did, little sister. However, I have also vowed to help when humanity needs me. Would you have me keep my promise to you while others suffer or die?”_

_Of course not. Kara was part of the ruling caste of Krypton. Nobility and honor flowed through her veins. Her understanding of her place in society and the responsibilities of ruling had eroded since her pod had crashed on Earth, though. Kara had been abandoned by Kal and rejected by Alex. Diana had promised her one more chance at safety and family. A promise Kara feared Diana had already forsaken. “You should have left me in Coast City,” she snapped._

_“Who’s the little spitfire?” Kara spun, transferring her glower to the square-jawed man in a suit and tie. “Do I need to worry she’s going to set the Manor on fire while we’re working?”_

Still emotionally off balance, Kara hesitated before letting Bruce wrap her in a hug. “I’m sorry,” she muttered into his expensive cashmere sweater.

“For standing up to Diana?” He leaned back, one hand gently brushing through her hair. “It’s long overdue – even if neither of you want to admit it. You’re a superhero in your own right now. We’re in your city. What do you think _I_ would do if Diana marched into Gotham and took me to task?”

The wry question drew a reluctant giggle from Kara. “Diana would kick your ass from one end of your gloomy city to the other.”

The volatile mood shifted as Bruce rolled his eyes and pouted. “She would not.”

Diana sandwiched Kara between them, her burgundy-painted nails curling around Bruce’s forearms. “Darling, I already have. More than once.” The group hug lasted only a minute before Diana stepped away. “Now, tell us what is happening. Who kidnapped you? Was it the same person or thing that attacked you?”

Kara shook her head. “Not…exactly.” Now that the family reunion drama had ended, she discovered how reluctant she was to tell Bruce and Diana the truth.

She noticed Bruce and Diana exchange glances at her hesitation. They weren’t going to let her avoid this conversation, damn it.

“Get comfortable. It’s a long story.” Suiting action to words, Kara took the seat on the far end of the couch that had always been deemed hers. “Remember that new anti-alien group, Uncle Bruce?”

“Cadmus.” Resuming his previous seat on the couch, Bruce pulled out his phone. “I’ve had the League gathering information.”

The League’s reach was long. “We can compare notes.” It would be interesting to see if the DEO or Bruce had more accurate intel. Until then, Kara would add what she’d learned from Alex and Agent Vasquez earlier in the day.

Kara relayed the DEO’s accounting of the original Cadmus Project. “But it all went sideways when I saved Alex’s plane. They’d known who I was almost since my pod landed. Clark told his good friend Lex about his cousin and how he’d foisted me off on the Danvers. Once Lex learned about Clark’s side job… It’s a good thing I ended up on Themyscira.”

“The attack wasn’t because Supergirl appeared in National City?” Diana seemed to consider that.

“I don’t like the implications, Kara,” Bruce said, still tapping away at his phone and scowling. Kara wasn’t sure whether his trademark expression was for her, or for the person on the other end of his aggressive texting.

Despite her lingering anxiety over this conversation, Kara laughed. “It’s too late for implications. Cadmus nearly managed to drag me to their evil lair already, and they’ve had my former foster family under observation since Clark decided I was too much trouble and dumped me on their front porch.”

Bruce stopped texting.

“Don’t go there,” Kara snapped. She’d listened to him defend Clark before.

His scowl lifted in a facsimile of a smile. “I was merely waiting to hear the rest of the story, spitfire.”

Her anger deflated as quickly as it had flared. “Sorry.” She needed to power through the rest of the sordid tale. “Cadmus knew all about Clark because of the Luthors. When I went to live with the Danvers, they became a target. First Jeremiah and then Alex were blackmailed into working for them.”

The remainder of the words flowed now. Kara talked steadily, had bent and eyes locked onto her knees. “The DEO brought Alex here, and they’ve set up a mobile command center downstairs in my apartment.” Steeling her nerves, she met Diana’s gaze. Then Bruce’s. “I’ve endangered both of you. You’ve been here twice, Diana. Cadmus can’t have missed that. Now the great and mighty Bruce Wayne visited.”

“Kara,” Bruce responded, “my secret isn’t much of a secret. Between the Gotham press and my own need for ‘flair’ as Alfred calls it, most of Gotham already believes I’m Batman. While I don’t plan to appear at the next Wayne Enterprises board meeting in my new Batsuit, having Cadmus ‘out’ me as a vigilante isn’t as terrible as you’re imagining. And your connection to the Princess? That’s easier to explain. Diana and I are old friends outside of the League. If anyone decides to ask questions, we tell them you’re my favorite niece.”

His scowl disappeared entirely as Bruce gave an actual smile. “You are, by the way. My favorite niece.” Reaching out a foot, he tapped one hand-stitched, Italian-leather shoe against her calf.

“I’ve always had safeguards in place.” Holding out a hand, Diana beckoned Kara to join her on the nearby loveseat.

Kara crossed the space with only a tiny bit of Superspeed, curling into Diana’s side.

“Themyscira has survived since Gods walked the Earth, darling. It will survive a group of human terrorists, no matter how smart or rich they may be.” Her fingers gripped Kara’s with enough strength for even Kara to wince. “ _You_ are far less invincible. We will arrange for you to return…”

“No.” Kara pulled her hand away and stood with shoulders squared. “This is my fight, _Ypsilotáti_.” Addressing Diana formally, Kara set the tone. She wasn’t asking permission from her friend or mentor; nor was she a supplicant before her Crown Princess. In this moment, Kara was Diana’s equal. “I’m staying. Right now, Cadmus has no idea that I know about the DEO or about their plans for me.”

Bruce crossed his legs and leaned back into the couch. “They know Supergirl rescued Alex.”

After all those years as General Antiope’s “special student”, Kara realized she still sucked at strategy. “It doesn’t matter. They don’t know if Alex is alive or if she told me anything.” And Kara owed it to Alex (and to Jeremiah) to bring Cadmus down. “I’m going to CatCo tomorrow with Miss Grant’s security escort.”

“Cleo will stay.” There was absolutely no room for negotiation.

Kara had anticipated Diana’s decision. She still shook her head. “I don’t need…”

Diana’s hand snapped up. “I do not need your permission. Cleo answers to me – as do you, little sister.”

Kara’s new-found “equality” melted away. Even as the last scion of the House of El, created from the genes of the greatest scientific minds of Kryptonian society, Kara quailed at the power emanating from Diana.

While Kara’s knees shook (and tried to bend, so that Kara knelt), Diana turned to Bruce. “I will make other arrangements as well.” Arrangements she didn’t share. “Speak with Arthur and Barry. The League must be aware of the dangers, and I would like their help in keeping an eye on any developments with Cadmus.”

“Already done.” He stood and strode across the living room. “I alerted everyone except Clark the moment you asked me to join you here.” Picking up a gaily wrapped box, Bruce returned. “Lucius wouldn’t let me leave Gotham without this.”

The tension in the room shifted slightly. Enough for Kara to accept the package and rip the paper off, letting it drop to the floor in a shower of tiny pieces. “Holy Rao!” She looked at Bruce through a curtain of tears. “How…? It’s so…”

“I told him I was jealous because he clearly loves you more than me.” Bruce pulled the new suit from the box. It was the same as Kara’s current suit and yet not. The cloak shone, the blue darker, the color closer in hue to Clark’s suit. Raised embroidery, disguised by the white on white design, carried the specialized sigil of the Heir to the House of El.

Taking the suit from Bruce, Kara stroked the symbol. It wasn’t hers yet, but it would be.

“Try it on,” Bruce urged. “There are some updates that won’t be the same if you aren’t actually _in_ the suit.”

Zipping into the nearby guest bathroom, Kara yanked on the suit and returned with a rush of wind to mark her passage. “It’s thicker.”

Bruce crossed his arms but didn’t say anything.

“OK. _Fine_!” Bruce was such a drama queen. Kara pressed the studs in her ears. The gauntlets wrapped around her arms and hands. Heavy “fins”, like the ones Bruce wore, lined the outside of each wrist. Her cowl and gauntlets were now the deeper, richer blue of the cloak.

Bruce stepped closer. “Lucius added a couple of new features.” His fingers stroked the sigil. “It’s more than your family crest. It’s a sensor. If there is Kryptonite in any form, the suit will respond. There’s a layer of some new tech Lucius bought from a start up in Metropolis. Your cowl will also deploy a respirator that will filter out any aerosol version. No more worries about Cadmus stealing your powers.”

“Uncle Lucius is my favorite,” Kara breathed as she marveled at the feel and look of the suit.

“I thought _I_ was your favorite,” Bruce said with a petulant whine.

Kara ignored him. He hated when Lucius upstaged him. “The only way Cleo stays is if you send Tekli, too,” she said, seamlessly returning to their previous topic of conversation. “Or send Cleo home and assign one of the single warriors as my bodyguard.”

“Done.” The minute tilt of Diana’s lips told Kara she’d been played. “I’ll have Tekli here by mid-day tomorrow.” With quick, quiet steps, she walked toward the bedroom. “Introduce me to your Alex, and then I must leave.”

“Problems?”

Diana’s shrugs were more expressive than many people’s words. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

Stifling an irritated sigh, Kara caught up with Diana as she peered into the bedroom. Bruce joined them. He pressed against Kara’s back and wrapped her in another tight hug. “Uncle Bruce, Diana,” she said, catching the change in Alex’s breathing pattern. “I’d like you to meet Alex Danvers.”

Leaving out their betrothal hurt, yet Kara knew it was the right thing to do. Clark hadn’t known about the Kryptonian practice, and the Danvers had never agreed to bind their House to Kara’s. More than that, _Alex_ had never agreed to be Kara’s bondmate.

Alex eyed them blearily for a minute. Then she slowly slid into a seated position. “ _Uncle_ Bruce?”

Diana coughed to hide her laugh. Kara wasn’t so polite.

“Well, I’m sure you know it’s an honorary title.” Bruce pushed at Kara’s shoulder until she moved out of his way. He crossed the room and held out a hand as if he were meeting Alex at a gala and not with Alex riddled with IVs and surrounded by medical equipment. “It’s an honor, Ms. Danvers. Thank you for risking your life to keep Kara safe.”

Alex turned tomato red (a color Kara hadn’t seen since Cleo met Tekli for the first time). “Nice to meet you, too. I…uh…didn’t know Kara had an uncle – even a chosen one.”

“And a sister,” Kara mumbled. She’d meant to tell Alex about her family, but Alex had been asleep, or Kara trapped downstairs with DEO agents. “Alex,” her voice was formal. Diana was royalty, after all, “may I introduce Her Royal Highness, Diana, Crown Princess of Themyscira.”

Unlike Bruce, Diana eschewed a handshake. “I feel as if I’ve known you for years, Alex. Kara has told me so much of you. The one person who made her feel welcome on Earth. Please, call me Diana.” She smiled, and Kara heard a teasing lilt beneath her accent. “I save the title for when I need to intimidate one of my Amazons or a certain Kryptonian into following the rules.”

Alex laughed – and then winced. “She was always bending the rules,” she said in a hoarse rasp.

“Alex Danvers, you take that back!”

“Nope. We both know who broke the popcorn machine, alien girl.”

Diana sat on the edge of the bed. “Ah. Was that because the sound of the popping corn scared her?”

The question appeared to throw Alex for a minute. “Uh, yeah,” she finally answered. “It was the week right after Clark brought her to us.” She caught Kara’s scowl. “I saw you fight the Red Tornado. You could crush your cousin like a bug.”

One day, Kara silently promised, she’d do just that. “Fighting Clark would be like fighting a human. Not worth my time.”

“Care to step onto the mats with me, mighty Kara?” Bruce’s smile was all teeth, and his shoulders bunched under his sweater. “We could place a friendly wager on the outcome. Alfred steadfastly refuses to wash or wax the GT. He says it’s beneath his dignity to be seen near such an uncouth, American vehicle.”

Kara regarded him through narrowed eyes. “You have a new toy, don’t you?” He never made bets he didn’t believe he could win.

His smile only widened.

“You’re on.” The rash words were out before Kara could censor them. “When I win, I get to drive your… _other_ car. While you ride shotgun.”

Bruce’s smile disappeared. “Kara, you’re a terrible driver!”

“I am not!” She crossed her arms and glared. “I drive to work almost every day – and I’ve never had an accident.”

“I cannot believe you two! We came to meet Kara’s betr…her first friend on Earth. A woman who protected her and helped her adjust to a new planet, and yet you insist on acting like children.” Diana’s raised brow and steely gaze turned Kara into a first-year trainee who’d mishandled her weapon.

She hunched her shoulders and shifted her feet.

“What do you say to Alex, little sister?”

Voice an embarrassed mumble, Kara said, “Sorry, Alex.”

“Bruce?”

“My apologies, Ms. Danvers. I’m afraid the spitfire and I need adult supervision.” Bruce was pouring on the charm. Kara mentally rolled her eyes and tried not to gag. “It’s a good thing Diana is so mature and wise.”

Alex’s laughter washed away Kara’s embarrassment and teased an answering smile. Then Alex groaned again, the sound of her pain filling the room.

“Press the button, Alex.” Kara motioned to the plunger-style button assembly lying next to Alex’s hand.

There was a complete lack of movement at her comment.

Hands on her hips, Kara did her best impression of Cat Grant squaring off with a cub reporter during a content meeting. “Alex…”

Jaw set in a stubborn line, Alex glared back. “Kara.” Then she slumped back against the pillow. “I don’t need it. Yet.”

“Your squinty eyes and ‘I used to be a vampire’ color say otherwise.” Kara softened her stance and her voice. “How about I clear out Uncle Bruce and Diana, order some soup and sandwiches from this awesome deli down the street, and _then_ maybe you hit the button?”

Alex closed her eyes. “Fine. But they better have good chicken noodle soup.”

“Even better than Eliza’s.” It had been one of the first things Eliza had made for Kara when she’d moved in with the Danvers. Kara had searched for years to find anything to match the taste and sense of “home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation notes:  
> mikrí mou aderfí - little sister  
> Ypsilotáti - Your Highness


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I owe the continuation of this fic to the fabulous chupeydupey and AlphaZulu 2.0. Without them, this would have stayed in The Vault and gathered dust.

“We’ll stay in town for a few days,” Bruce said as he and Diana prepared to leave. He pressed a finger over Kara’s lips, squelching any rebuttal. “I have legitimate business in National City, and I’m sure Diana can find a new artist to mentor.”

It wasn’t as reassuring as Bruce probably intended. Kara leaned away from his finger. “What about…?”

“We shall deal with Cadmus, the DEO, and any threats to you and to the League as they come.” Diana opened the door. “Expect additional visits from family, darling. They would have been here today if I had not asked to speak with you first.”

Kara nearly stomped her foot in frustration. “Diana!”

“You are family.” Diana’s tone cut through Kara’s anger and anxiety. “We share no blood, little sister, and yet you have been part of my family since I watched you devour a mountain of French fries and burgers the day we first met. Even our Queen argued her case for coming to National City.”

That rocked Kara’s world. She stared at Diana, unable to respond. Diana and many of the younger Amazons now left the island to experience the wider world. Queen Hippolyta did not. Rumor had it the queen had even threatened to disown Diana when she’d followed Steve Trevor to London decades ago.

“You will never be alone or unprotected again. Not while this Cadmus is a threat.” Diana brushed her lips over both of Kara’s cheeks. “You are immensely powerful, little sister; yet you are not invincible. I expect you to call much more quickly if you need me in the future.” With a regal nod, she swept from the room.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, spitfire.” Bruce’s hug was quick and tight. “I’ll try to keep your big sister from smothering you.”

They shared a last look, knowing that Bruce was no match for Diana. “Give Uncle Lucius my love.” She stepped away and closed the door behind them. The room was too quiet and too empty without them. Annoying, protective, and too convinced Kara was a helpless child? Yes. Kara still loved them both.

It felt good to slip on a jacket and leave the apartment. Cleo waited for her in the hallway, and Kara spotted several more bodyguards in suits and ties near the elevator and the access door to the roof.

Cleo was unusually silent on the trip to the stairs. Even her footsteps made little noise as Kara clattered down flight after flight.

“She spoke to you,” Kara finally said as they exited onto the sidewalk. She didn’t need superpowered eyesight or hearing to note a pair of men across the street in the same Men-in-Black attire as the guards inside. A black SUV pulled into traffic half a block behind them and _crawled_ along the street.

Posture tense, Cleo hummed. “Did you think she would not? I am here to protect you, Kara. While you are not injured, I didn’t stop you from flying out of the apartment or embroiling yourself in a war with this Cadmus. I am lucky she did not send me home to Themyscira in disgrace.”

“It’s not your…”

“Kara!” Cleo stopped walking, and their tail car dove toward the curb. The men on the other side of the street pretended to stare into an empty storefront. “You told me the House of El was one of the most powerful Houses on Krypton.” She took Kara’s hands. “Did your parents have personal guards? Did you? Were there servants in your home?”

Unwilling to give answers that Cleo already knew, she scowled.

It lightened some of Cleo’s intensity. “You’ve always ignored what you didn’t want to see or believe,” she said affectionately. “But, Kara, you’re something special. The Head of your House. A Princess of Themyscira. National City’s Supergirl. It is my honor to be your friend and your protection.”

Everything in Kara rose up in protest…and fizzled. She remembered _Dai_ Kan-Te and _Pizhom_ Jeza Jek-Vay, who had escorted her mother to and from meetings with the Council. An entire _widon_ had been permanently assigned to her family. “I’m not special,” she muttered.

An arm wrapped around her, pulling her down the sidewalk. “How is _o_ _kátochos tis psychís sas?”_

“Stubborn.” Beautiful. Strong. “She wouldn’t take anything for the pain.”

Cleo’s grin wiped away the last of her sobriety. “Did you try The Eyes? Or The Lip?”

Rolling her eyes, Kara shook her head. “No! Oh my Rao. Why do you always call them that?” She shoved Cleo with enough force to make the other woman stagger a step. A mini shoving match ensued until the scent of garlic, pecorino, and baking bread stole Kara’s attention.

Her stomach growled as Kara pulled open the door. The bell jangled. “Ah, Miss Kara!” The gnarled old man behind the counter waved. “You have finally brought your girl. The one you think of when you buy my soup.”

Cleo covered her grin with her hand; her cough did little to disguise her laugh, however.

“Mr. Kaminski,” Kara began – until he waved at her again and tottered away and into the back of the store.

That was enough for Cleo. “Even the deli owner knows you’re pining for Alex. How often do you sip soup and think of her?”

Kara crossed her arms and watched Cleo lean against one of the deli’s tiny tables and cackle. “Why do I like you? I’m having trouble remembering.” When Cleo simply kept laughing, Kara stalked to the counter and stared into the display case. Her stomach rumbled again as she admired the mounds of sausage, spicy stuffed bacon rolls, and _nalesniki_ filled with cheese.

“I bring you extra soup. Your girl looks like she might eat more than you, Miss Kara.” He winked at her as he set two paper bags onto the countertop. “I also fix you sandwiches. You will love them.”

She’d learned never to argue about the sandwiches. They were always divine. “Can I have a dozen of the _nalesniki_ and a couple of the bacon rolls, too, please?”

“Of course.” Mr. Kaminski opened the case and reached for the items Kara requested. “You won’t introduce me? You are here so often; we are family now.”

Flushing, Kara apologized. “Forgive me, _khehthgr_. This is my oldest friend and companion Cleo.”

“Friend? Is that what you young people call the love of your life?” He sounded disappointed.

“Not everyone is as accepting as you, sir.” Cleo stepped behind Kara, arms wrapping around her waist. “We meant no insult.”

Mr. Kaminski’s smile returned. “Many people are stupid. My daughter and her wife have been together many years. Long before this country recognized their love.” He finished boxing and bagging the food and slid the bag toward Kara. “Take good care of each other; that is the most important thing. Always.”

His words warmed Kara all the way through – and then ripped out her heart and soul. She’d never bring Alex here. Never get to hold her hand as she introduced Mr. Kaminski to her bondmate. “We will,” she choked out through the emotions suddenly clogging her throat.

Cleo’s arms tightened around her, probably sensing Kara’s struggle. “It was an honor to meet you, sir. Thank you for taking care of her when I can’t.”

With Mr. Kaminski’s well-wishes and goodbyes ringing in her ears, Kara allowed Cleo to lead her from the deli. “I’m sorry.”

Kara shrugged. What could she say? They’d had this conversation so many times.

_“She sounds beautiful,” Cleo said. Her shoulders slumped, and she kicked a sandaled foot at a pile of leaves near their resting place in the Queen’s Garden._

_Kara ignored Cleo’s body language, focusing instead on her words. “She is. Beautiful and smart.” Perfect. “I’m so lucky she’s mine.” She could envision Alex in the flowing robes worn in Argo. Not white, even if that **was** the most popular for the Great Houses. _

_A hand on her arm yanked her out of her fantasy. “She doesn’t want you, Kara! She’s the reason you’re here, remember?”_

“Kar?” Cleo caught Kara’s free hand. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“Nothing’s changed.” Voice cracking as she lost her control over her tears. “I have Alex back, but I know she doesn’t want me like…like I want her.”

Moving so that Kara leaned against a bricked storefront, Cleo gently wiped at the tears on Kara’s face. “If she truly knew you, Princess Kara, your Alex could never resist you. All of Themyscira loves you.” Her lips twisted into a self-mocking smile. “I love you. You stole my heart with far more skill than the great Autolycus pilfering King Eurytus’ cattle.”

The comparison made Kara snort. “Didn’t Autolycus get caught?” Leaning her head forward, she rested her forehead against Cleo’s.

“Not that time.”

“I feel so much better,” Kara sniped then she sighed. “You’re right. I know you’re right, and that I have to let her go. She deserves so much more. Everything that’s happened to her and to her family is because of me.” And Kal. Kara hadn’t forgotten his role in bringing Cadmus into the Danvers’ lives.

Cleo pressed a smacking kiss to Kara’s cheek and stepped away. “Let’s get you home. You get maudlin when you’re hungry. Everything will look better after you eat all those pancake things.”

Kara continued to lean against Cleo as they finished the walk home. Neither spoke. They simply carried their bags into the elevator and then into Diana’s apartment. Soup went into a bowl for Kara and a large mug for Alex. Sandwiches, nalesniki, and bacon rolls filled plates. Kara added drinks.

Finally, she and Cleo carried everything into the bedroom – to find Alex sound asleep.

The sight cut through Kara’s dark mood. It was so cute. Soft snores filled the room, and Alex, her Alex seemed to have shed years from her age as she clutched the blankets to her chin. Kara quietly set the items in her arms onto a small table in one corner of the room and pointed to the cluttered nightstand near Alex for the rest.

Retreating to the doorway, she watched Alex for several minutes. _“_ _Tin agápisa apó ti stigmí pou vrethíkame. Pos mporó na tin afíso na fígei_?”

“ _Eínai to sostó. Xéro pos théleis na káneis otidípote tha tin kánei eytychismén_.” Kara turned into Cleo’s arms, burying her head into Cleo’s chest as she tried to deny Cleo’s belief that she would do what was right for Alex. “ _Ó, ti kai an symveí, pánta tha ypárchei chóros stin kardiá moy gia eséna, Prigkípissa. Eísai tóso fíli moy óso eísai kai oikogéneiá mou. Móno i Thecla kratá éna megalítero kommáti tis kardiás moy_.”

“I love you, too.” Kara raggedly whispered.

With a last, tight hug, Cleo pushed Kara away. “I’ll be…outside if you need me.” Outside in the hall, Kara mentally translated. Keeping Kara safe.

She watched Cleo walk away. Listened to the door close. Then she turned back to watch Alex. “Holy Rao!”

“Sorry.” Alex stared at Kara, completely awake.

Heart still racing, Kara grinned. “If Diana comes back, can you maybe not tell her I didn’t realize you weren’t sleeping? Her training on situational awareness is brutal.” She mock shuddered. “Not to mention the lecture to go with it.” Even knowing that she and Alex needed to talk about _things_ , Kara couldn’t help being happy. She’d missed Alex every day they’d been apart. Having her here, in Diana’s apartment, was a dream come true.

“I got you the promised soup.” She pointed to the mug on the nightstand. “And a sandwich, in case you feel up to it. And the absolute _best_ crepes stuffed with cheese in National City.”

“I’m not hungry.”

The hairs on the back of Kara’s neck came to attention. “Alex?” Unease and dread fought for supremacy as she met Alex’s emotionless gaze.

“Can you tell Vasquez and Lucy I’d like to speak with them?” What had happened in the short time she’d been gone?

“Alex? Did something happen? Cadmus? Do you need a doctor?” The words tumbled out and banged together. Kara spun, scanning the apartment and then the entire building with her enhanced vision and hearing.

She didn’t see or hear anything. Nothing except the pounding of Alex’s heartbeat. It was hard and way too fast. It stood in complete counterpoint to her detached voice when she said, “Please leave.”

“To…to get Lucy?” Kara’s hands ached from being so tightly clenched. “And then we can talk and eat?” she begged shamelessly.

“No.” The word was soft yet implacable.

It slammed into Kara and stole Sol from the sky. Her heart stopped beating, and a cry echoed from the depths of her soul. She’d been (almost) prepared to formally end her betrothal to Alex. To dishonor her House and consign herself to being alone forever.

Not once since finding out Alex was fighting against Cadmus had Kara thought Alex would cut her completely out of her life.

Until Alex did. “I don’t want you to come back. I want you to leave me alone, Kara. We’re not family or friends. We’re not anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> Greek:  
> o kátochos tis psychís sas - the holder of my soul (bondmate/soulmate inference as used in the fic)  
> Tin agápisa apó ti stigmí pou vrethíkame. Pos mporó na tin afíso na fígei? - I loved her from the moment we met. How can I let her go? (Την αγάπησα από τη στιγμή που βρεθήκαμε. Πώς μπορώ να την αφήσω να φύγει)  
> Eínai to sostó. Xéro pos théleis na káneis otidípote tha tin kánei eytychisméni - It’s the right. I know that you want to do whatever will make her happy (Είναι το σωστό. Ξέρω πως θέλεις να κάνεις οτιδήποτε θα την κάνει ευτυχισμένη.)  
> Ó,ti kai an symveí, pánta tha ypárchei chóros stin kardiá moy gia eséna, Prigkípissa. Eísai tóso fíli moy óso eísai kai oikogéneiá mou. Móno i Thecla kratá éna megalítero kommáti tis kardiás moy.  
> \- Whatever happens, there will always be space in my heart for you, Princess. You are my friend just as my friend as you are my family. Only Tekli holds a bigger piece of my heart. ( Ό,τι και αν συμβεί, πάντα θα υπάρχει χώρος στην καρδιά μου για εσένα, Πριγκίπισσα. Είσαι τόσο φίλη μου όσο είσαι και οικογένεια μου. Μόνο η Θέκλα κρατά ένα μεγαλύτερο κομμάτι της καρδιάς μου.)
> 
> Kryptonian:  
> Dai – Soldier (used here as officer)  
> Pizhom – Captain  
> Widon - squad  
> Khethgyr – grandfather


End file.
